Hawke
The Strategist
Thought this was a cool story so why not share it.
WritingPrompts is a subreddit of Reddit, where someone prompts an idea and others write a story from it. This one was "A Sith apprentice and Jedi padawan fall in love. Explain how and why".
Link to the page here.
Story by fringly. So if you want to see what he wrote and its not at the top just scroll down and look for his name with a wall of text.
I've also copy pasted it into the spoiler below.
WritingPrompts is a subreddit of Reddit, where someone prompts an idea and others write a story from it. This one was "A Sith apprentice and Jedi padawan fall in love. Explain how and why".
Link to the page here.
Story by fringly. So if you want to see what he wrote and its not at the top just scroll down and look for his name with a wall of text.
I've also copy pasted it into the spoiler below.
The rain hissed and snapped along the length of the green lightsabre. The two figures stood completely motionless and then slowly she dropped her hands to her side and from her sleeve her own lightsabre appeared in her hands. With a deep thwum it turned on and the deep red glow pushed back the green and the forest clearing was now split, two tone.
“It doesn’t have to be like this” her voice was beseeching. I swear to you that everything I have ever told you has been the truth; I have never once lied to you.
His eyes did not leave hers, despite the water flowing from his hair, across his face, his gaze was still and steady. He reached inside him and heard the voice of his master, calm and assured allow the force to flow through you, release your feelings and surrender your will to the force. He released his feelings and felt them flow from him, love, anger fear, all washed away by the calm will of the force.
“You have lied by omission ever day Chiara” his voice surprised him by being steady. Still he held his sabre ready to strike, hers was by her side, held casually. He probed forward with his mind, trying to see if he could sense her, get any feeling on how she would act but he felt nothing, less than nothing. Where he should have felt her warm comforting presence was a gaping hole in the force; it struck him, she could manipulate her impact on the force, nothing he had ever felt could be replied on.
She lowered her head and looked away, causing him to tighten his grasp slightly, but instead of the attack he half expected, she turned away and turned her lightsabre off. Suddenly her side of the clearing was cast in shadow and hr pale face seemed to shine in the glow of the three moons and his lightsabre. A tendril of fear began to gnaw at his stomach. She was still silent and the strain was beginning to hurt.
“I lied to you once, Beyorn, the first day I met you on Nulles four months ago. I told you I was a part of the political exchange programme but I was there to assassinate the First Minister. Since that day I suppose I may have let you believe certain things but… I did it because of what I felt for you.” She turned back and faced him and the lightsaber fell from her grip onto the soaked grass. “Beyorn, I love you.”
She moved forward and placed her hand on his face, he flinched and then closed his eyes as her soft hand caressed his cheek. The tendril of fear grew and he now understood why it was penetrating through his training. He loved her and that was going to lead him to his damnation.
End of part 1.
EDIT: Had someone asking and yes, keep reading and there are lightsabre battles.
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[–]fringly 43 points
10 hours ago
The shuttle was small and cramped, they had borrowed it from the Nulles Royal hanger to bring them to this small forested moon so that they could enjoy some privacy. As a padawan Beyorn was well known across court and it had not gone unnoticed that he had spend a lot of time with the attractive exchange student, who was supposedly there to learn in preparation for a position in the Chethin Senatorial delegation.
Beyorn and his Master, Khi Murano had a years posting to the Nulles court as advisors, a rare posting but the importance of the Nulles trade routes meant that the Galactic Senate required a diplomatic presence on planet at almost all times and Master Murano was a skilled diplomat and Beyorn was a Jedi Consular in training and so this had seemed the perfect posting.
Beyorn and Chiara had attended several classes together and had felt an affinity at once but it had been several weeks before they had spend any time together. A trip out to a coastal town to observe a Nulles ritual, a broken speeder on the way back, a three day walk through the woods until reaching civilisation and the two had become firm friends. It had not taken long for it to grow to more than that.
Since they had come in from the rain they hadn’t said a word to each other. Beyorn had plotted a route home and they had dried off as best they could. Now they sat, inches apart but each seemingly lost in their own thoughts.
“Why did you tell me?” His voice startled him, he’d been thinking it and it had come out inadvertently.
She looked across at him and her eyes flashed from blue to purple, he’d seen it happen before when she was embarrassed or excited, he wasn’t sure which it was now. “I needed to tell you I loved you.” Her voice was hesitant and low “I couldn’t do that if… If you didn’t know that I was a Sith.”
Sith, the word still made his head reel. All the holocrons, all the classes, all the warnings! They’d said the Sith were cruel, powerful, evil, manipulative and dangerous. They had never said that they could also be a thin, gangly girl with a cute crooked smile, long red hair and the ability to make you laugh until your sides ached with pain.
“You know my life, you know who I am, I told you about my upbringing in the temple, my training, my master, I know nothing about you.” His voice started steady and broke towards the end. He flushed in embarrassment at not being able to control himself once again.
The stars flashed past through the window and for a moment they sat in silence, the heavy unspoken words laying between them. At last she began. “I’m not so different. I don’t know who my parents are or where I was born. The first thing I remember is pain, terrible, terrible pain. My master had taken my from my home and placed my with Dark Acolytes. I was trained to be strong and powerful from the start. There were many of us, male, female, human and all species of alien. The dark mothers fed us, clothed us and punished us. The older acolytes taught us to feel pain and fear and to use these emotions to access the force.”
She paused and looked at him “I will tell you what I can but some things… some of the training was too… too much to talk of even now.” Since they had entered the ship he had been able to feel her in the force again and now the emotion suddenly poured off her and flooded him with pain and fear. He gasped and she pulled back, her emotions pulling back into her and physically she grabbed her knees and pulled them to her chest in the chair. “I’m sorry, I have to control myself, I didn’t mean to let go.” He reached out and toughed her hand and she smiled a little at him. “We trained for 10 years and many fell. At last there were only three, myself and my two bothers. The master had been following us closely and at age ten we were brought before him in the arena. We were each presented with our first lightsabre and…” She paused for a moment and took a breath “And then we were told that only one would live. I didn’t want to but they both fell to me. Easily.”
He turned to look at her but she turned away and pulled her hand from his “From then, my master trained me himself and I learned much at his side. At fifteen, when I was sent to the Nulles court, I had been on over 50 missions and completed them all successfully. I was to infiltrate and take out the First Minister and… and your Master.”
“What do we do now?” Beyorn’s mind was filled with doubt, was she now being honest, he believed her but she was a Sith but if she loved him then maybe this meant she was ready to turn from the dark side. He wanted to ask but he feared the answer.
“My Master will have believed me dead and failed when I didn’t return but yesterday I believe a bounty hunter spotted me. By now he will know and be looking for me. I will have to return to him or run but either way I needed you to know… that I loved you.”
His heart broke, her eyes were filled with sorrow and pain and he pulled her towards him and kissed her deeply. At last he broke away “Chiara, I love you and whatever we face, we face together.” She smiled for the first time and kissed him again.
The explosion tore them free from hyperspace and filled the cockpit with black acrid smoke. Beyorn could hear Chiara scream but he could not move. Suddenly, with great screaming of metal, the front of the small shuttle was ripped off like paper and flung away.
They were in the bay of a much larger ship and their own craft had been ripped in two. In front of the craft stood a tall man with black hair and black eyes; he gestured and Chiara flew from the craft and was suspended in front of him, chocking and struggling. Another gesture pinned Beyorn to his seat, holding him more strongly than anything he had ever felt.
As he spoke the words seemed to drill into Beyorn’s skull “Welcome home my young apprentice, I see you have brought me a present.” Beyorn slowly felt the air leaving him and everything went black as he passed out.
End of part 2
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[–]fringly 31 points
9 hours ago
Beyorn awoke with his head throbbing with pain. It was dark and when he tried to move he discovered he was in a box only slightly bigger than his body. He calmed himself and tried to reach out and feel his surroundings instead of relying on his eyes which were useless in the dark.
His mind kept trying to stab in thoughts of Chiara, where was she, was she hurt, was she killed, was he going to be killed next? He forced himself to concentrate and think on his Master, Khi Murano. Master Murano had taken him as a Padawn nearly ten years ago, he had been a feisty student, tall and strong with sandy hair and an impetuous nature. The temple had been too confining or him and the council had decided that he would struggle to develop if he remained but Master Murano had asked to train him.
Years later he had asked why he had chosen Beyorn and Murano had told him that it was because they were so different. Beyorn was headstrong and took to his fists but Murano avoided confrontation unless absolutely necessary. He told Beyorn that one day he had overheard him arguing with Master Phot about the proper use of the holocrons. Master Phot felt that only serious study of the holocrons should be allowed but young Beyorn had wanted to look through the historical records as he loved learning about the old Jedi ways. This love of learning and his eloquence against the Master in the debate had persuaded Murano that Beyorn would be better using his brain than his fists and that Murano was the one to train him.
Murano had been a kind Master, it had taken several years for the two to become fast friends but Murano’s job as a diplomat kept them moving and so Beyorn was kept satisfied with a new adventure and new things to learn constantly. Almost immediately he had become a calmer and more patient young Jedi and over the years he had grown taller and stronger, although his hair remained an unruly sandy mop. Their posting on Nulles had been the longest that they had ever stayed on one planet and until Chiara, Beyorn had been worried he’d be bored.
Is thoughts had brought him back to Chiara but now he was calmer, thinking on his Master had allowed him to calm his mind after the day of emotional stress. For the first time he began to assess his situation and how he could act.
He felt that the casket he was in was within a larger room and soon he was attuned enough to be confident that there was no one within that room or nearby. Being trapped in a small space held no fear for him, he had spent his whole life on ships and as he was normally the smallest, any awkward repairs had normally fallen to him.
He breathed calmly and steadily and felt the walls of the casket, metal but not thick. It sealed at the side with three heavy bolts which were held magnetically. He smiled, magnets were not a problem, it was all just a series of forces and he was very good at knowing where to apply just a little push.
A click signified that the locks had opened and he pushed up and freed himself. The room was some sort of storage bay, crates and pods lined the walls – at once end an airlock and the other end a doorway. He chose the doorway. He strained every sense as he walked to try to sense anyone nearby but he could not feel anything. A slight sense of unease reminded him that Chiara had been able to hide herself in the force from him before. God alone knew what her master would be able to do.
As he grew closer to the door suddenly he felt something strange in the force. – an eddy, or disturbance but in a strangely familiar way. He pulled several crates from the wall until he found what he was looking for, a long metal case which he quickly pried open. Inside he found what he had felt and for the first time in a while a grim smile spread across his face. Lightsabres, more than a dozen and he could feel the crystals inside, they would work. He took one out and pressed the button and it purred to life thwummm, a dark red blade slid out and lit the room sinisterly. His grim smile grew. It wasn’t his first choice but now he was free and he was armed.
He took out two of the full size sabres and a smaller knife size one he found and tucked them into his belt and under his jacket. The door was unlocked and he slipped into the hallway, moving silently and swiftly. This was a large ship and he had two aims, find Chiara and find an escape. Considering how easily her master had found them before he suspected he may also need to disable the ship somehow but that would need to wait for now.
At last he found a stairwell, leading up and down. He opened his mind to the force and decided to go down. Two levels down and he felt something, just a whisper in his mind but enough for him to stop and exit on that level. He prowled along until at last he heard a noise, footsteps. He was approaching a corner and the noise was around but some distance away, he slipped silently to the corner and peeked around. Droids.
There were six of them, heavily armed and mean looking. He’d never seen anything like them before but he wanted to take no chances. She gripped a lightsaber tightly and as they approached he spun around the corner and on one motion sliced two of them into dozens of pieces with swift sharp motions.
With a blast from the force he slammed the sliced pieces of the droids into the two behind smashing them against the wall. He spun and cut down on the last two, hoping to disable them before the second pair could regain their footing but the second’s notice had been all they needed and the first droid held his arm up enveloped in a soft pink glow and it blocked the blade.
Beyorn gaped, he’d never heard of a forcefield which could completely deflect a lightsaber blade but this had completely stopped his. In a second the other droid had raise its weapon and Beyorn had to swiftly move to block the blast from its rifle. He swung swiftly striking high and low but each time the droids moved faster, blocking his blows and firing shots at the young Jedi in between blocks. He drove them backwards, at least he was able to move them he grimly though.
His senses had been focussed forward but suddenly he felt a change from behind him and spun around. The two droids he had smashed into the wall were advancing and now he was surrounded in the small corridor. All four droids had softly glowing arms and were holding blasters. This was going to get interesting.
End of Part three.
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[–]fringly 27 points
8 hours ago
Beyorn looked from side to side, the droids had stopped and were blocking his escape in either direction. All four began to fire continuously and Beyorn’s lightsabre was a blur deflecting each blast, the droids fired faster and faster until suddenly one stopped, the top of a red lightsabre pushed through its chest from behind and the droid dropped leaving the sabre hanging in mid air as Beyorn held it with the force. Then it flipped on its end and as he held off the other three it plunged into the floor and a moment later erupted from the floor and up the leg of the next droid.
With one side now free Beyorn spun to face his last two attackers, still deflecting each blast away from his body. The second sabre floated back to his hand and now he advanced n the droids. The blasts were now being deflected back into the droids and the pink forcefield was glowing all over the droids body as it tried to adsorb the force of the blasts, as the got nearer he focused all the deflections onto the head of one droid and after a moment the forcefield gave out, the droids head imploded and a moment later Beyorn had split it end to end.
With a final spin he knocked away the last blasts and with a scream he slammed the lightsabres into either side of the final droids head and after a second’s resistance it gave way and the blades passed through and then down into the body cavity. The hallway fell silent except for his panting. The lightsabres flicked off and he gratefully reattached them to his belt, impressed at their handing.
He took a moment to calm himself and find his balance and then reached out again. He felt no moment but the amount of noise that he had made it was impossible to think that no one had heard. Then it came again. A gasp of contact. Chiara.
He concentrated and tried to capture where the feeling had come from and at last felt confident in a direction. Swiftly he ran until at last he came to a door, similar to all the rest but this one was sealed more tightly and he could sense it was thicker. He placed his hands flat onto the door and felt the mechanism within and let his mind slowly unravel the puzzle until with a click and a whirr the door opened.
Inside a small room was crackling with energy and as he opened the door Chiara’s screams flooded out into the hallway and filled his mind and ears. She was strapped to a board while a black floating torture device inserted needles into her naked body. The board flickered with power and was constantly filling her with pain while the device concentrated on one part at a time, using her bodies own sensory capability to force her into the most excruciating agony.
The pain and anger flooded Beyorn and instinctually he pushed forward, crushing the torture device against the wall and ripping the bed from its base and holding it in mid air. Power crackled around the device for a moment and then the room slipped into darkness.
Beyorn lowered Chiara to the ground and snapped clear the restraints. One of her legs had been opened with a wide incision and the pain wand was still buried deeply. He pulled it free and carefully eased the leg from its restraint. It seemed well cauterised as no blood flowed but it was gruesome to see each muscle exposed. Looking around he found her clothes were stored in a small cupboard along with medical supplies, presumably in case they did some damage they needed to repair. This was beyond his ability to heal, even with dermal regenerators and the other equipment he had. She was barely conscious and so he slipped her clothes on as best he could, bound her wound and, taking the medical supplies he carried her out of the room.
Now he had her he needed to find a way out but he was sure now that he would not be left alone for much longer. Her Master was sure to know he had removed Chiara from the device and be on his way. Skidding down corridors he now ran, looking for something, anything that looked like a hanger. He stopped and looked in rooms but all he found were labs and storage and rooms of machinery doing things he didn’t recognise. He looked on the floor above but it was move of the same, he was going to have to go higher.
Two more floors up and the stairs went no higher. The corridors were wider and brighter here and to his huge relief, there were signs. He briefly considered aiming for the flight deck but the unconscious Chiara in his arms made his mind up and he headed for the hanger. On the way he found more droids but this time he carefully avoided them, stepping into side rooms which were set up as guest quarters or conference rooms and letting them go past. Finally he found the doors to the main hanger and carefully entered, ducking behind some crates to look around the wide open room.
The vast room was open at once end to space, a huge force field holding out the vacuum. Two levels of walkways skirted around the edges of the rooms but Beyorn’s eyes were drawn to the row of small transport ships near to him which all looked hyperdrive enabled. Further away fighters lined the other wall and he considered making a break for them but it was added risk.
Chiara now opened her eyes and looked up at him and frowned in confusion. “You’re dead?” She murmured. He smiled at her puzzled face, she hated admitting she didn’t know something and he’d almost never seen her confused smile. It pulled his heart. He made up his mind the transports were just a few hundred yards away, across open hanger. He had to risk it.
Around the room were droids but few seemed armed, he broke from the crates and proceeded at a flat run towards the nearest transport. From the side he heard a whistle of alarm go up but the sound that stopped him dead was the low chuckle.
End of Part four.
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[–]fringly 29 points
8 hours ago
From behind the transport stepped Chiara’s master. His voice was deep and each word seemed to beat down on Beyorn, making him feel like throwing himself at this man’s mercy. The power rippled off him.
“Well done little Padawan.” He smiled and it was devastating to Beyorn, his confidence ripped away and he knew he was hopelessly, hopelessly outmatched. Already he could feel his strength slip away and he fell to a knee to keep holding Chiara.
The Master walked towards them and stopped short just ahead of them. “I knew this would be fun when I found my little lovers but this, well, you’ve exceeded all my expectations. I was going to use you to keep her in line for a while but now, well, maybe I’ll keep you both. Suitably trained of course.” He extended his arm and force lightening arced across to Beyorn. With his last strength he pushed Chiara away and she rolled far enough from him to avoid being hit. The lightening hit him full in the chest and he screamed. He lungs felt like they would explode and he willed himself to die, to simply explode into nothing.
At last it stopped and he found himself on the ground. The Master had walked to Chiara and was stooping over her, he extended his arm as he had at Beyorn but Beyorn found a strength he hadn’t even imagined he possessed and pulled himself to his knee. The Master looked back and saw the young Padawan try to pull himself upright and smiled. This one was strong indeed and his emotions gave him strength, there was great potential here.
He turned back to Beyorn and held his hand out again and force lightening rippled forward a second time but this time, to his surprise Beyorn held the light sabre in front of him and the lightening grounded itself harmlessly.
Beyorn spat out a mouthful of blood and through gritted teeth he finally found himself able to speak “You will not touch her, she is no longer yours, she is mine” with a wild cry he launched himself forward at the Master, swinging wildly. The Master threw his long cloak to one side and in one sift motion drew his own sabre and easily parried the blow.
He chuckled “Well done Padawan, now you have a possession, but you will learn that if you have possessions then you must struggle to keep them.” He flicked back with his lightsabre and Beyorn flew across the room and slammed into the side of one of the transports. He felt his ribs break and the pain spread across his body. The Master approached slowly and with a wave the two sabre’s on Beyorn’s belt were flung away and smashed against the wall.
The Master stood over Beyorn and smiled grimly “You are now MY possession little one” the words bore into Beyorn’s brain and he felt his lips begin to form the words. Before he could speak an explosion rocked the hanger and two of the fighters exploded. Beyorn and the Master looked up and a Jedi fighter streaked into the hanger and a figure flipped from within and landed on the floor.
The Master took a step back and, for the first time, looked slightly unsure. From the smoke and flames a figure emerged, Beyorn gasped. It was his Master Khi Murano. The normally stoic figure now had a face of stony rage. The Sith Master drew back “Master Murano, how nice of you to join us. It seems I am going from two new playthings to three.
Murano did not stop, his advanced and his thin frame seemed to grow and impose itself on the scene. The Sith Master took two steps back and fixed on Murano. At last when he was just a few steps from the two Murano stopped.
“Beyorn,” his voice was soft and gentle as always “get into the ship and leave.” He looked to the side and saw Chiara lying there, a moments puzzlement crossed his face before it was pushed aside. “Take her” he added.
Beyorn scrambled up and ran to Chiara and scooped her into his arms. The two Masters stood face to face, unmoving. Murano held his lightsabre up and extended the green blade. After a moment the Sith Master’s blade came to life, down by his side and glowing red and sinister.
Beyorn carried Chiara to the Jedi craft, there was space in the back and he lay her down and started the emergency medical bot. he considered his options for a moment and then ran from the craft and back to his Master’s side.
“I told you to leave Beyorn.” Murano’s voice was still soft but strained.
“He’s strong and fast and can fire some sort of lightening from his fingers Beyorn replied.
Murano smiled and slipped a second lightsabre from his cloak. “Stay back and strike when you see an opening.” Before Beyorn could respond Murano had struck forward, his sabre glowing as he struck down, he slammed the blade into the Sith Master who reeled backwards at the ferocity of the attack from his slight, gentle looking man.
Murano spun and struck low and high but after a moment Beyorn realised that the Sith Master, after the initial surpise of the attack, was holding off Murano fairly easily. He slipped around the side and waited, after a few moments the Sith Master saw a chance and as Murano struck he slid around and flashed his sabre towards Murano’s midsection, Beyorn however was ready and fast as a flash he had blocked it and swept the blade up, leaving the Sith Master open to a strike from Murano.
The Sith Master spun backwards to avoid the strike and then rounded and attacked Beyorn, smashing the lightsabre from his grip and then pushing him back into a wall. Beyorn’s broken ribs ground together and he screamed in pain and darkness floated past his vision.
The Masters now had felt each other out and the blades were spinning and whirring faster than beyorn could follow, he propped himself up and tried to stand but his midsection was too badly hurt. The Masters spun and clased but after a moment the inevitable happened and Murano’s sabre flew away and with a gesture the Sith Master crushed it.
Lightening arced again from his fingers and Murano crumpled into a ball as it powered into him. Beyorn could feel his life slipping away as Murano grew weaker. The Sith Master lifted his head and roared in pleasure and victory.
A low light flew across the room and the Sith Master Screamed in pain and looked down. Sticking in his leg was the small lightsabre that Beyorn had taken earlier and had now used the last of his strength to power into his thigh. Blood, thick and rich flowed out and began to pump onto the floor. With a scream the Sith Master pulled the sabre from his leg and limping fled the room.
After a moment Murano uncurled and was able to move. Beyorn and he crawled together and then helped each other to stand. They limped back to the ship and quickly took off and away from the Sith ship.
Beyorn sat in the back and watched over Chiara and at last Murano came back once the jump to hyperspace was complete. He sat for a moment and watched and understood all the Beyorn had hidden from him. Beyorn could feel Murano putting together the pieces but he knew that if he found out everything then Chiara would be in worse danger than she had been on the ship. He prepared himself and cleared his mind and hid his true feelings from his Master and prepared to deceive the person closest to him.
“Master Murano, it’s time you knew the truth.”
End.
I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for the prompt. Apologies for any spelling mistakes etc.
“It doesn’t have to be like this” her voice was beseeching. I swear to you that everything I have ever told you has been the truth; I have never once lied to you.
His eyes did not leave hers, despite the water flowing from his hair, across his face, his gaze was still and steady. He reached inside him and heard the voice of his master, calm and assured allow the force to flow through you, release your feelings and surrender your will to the force. He released his feelings and felt them flow from him, love, anger fear, all washed away by the calm will of the force.
“You have lied by omission ever day Chiara” his voice surprised him by being steady. Still he held his sabre ready to strike, hers was by her side, held casually. He probed forward with his mind, trying to see if he could sense her, get any feeling on how she would act but he felt nothing, less than nothing. Where he should have felt her warm comforting presence was a gaping hole in the force; it struck him, she could manipulate her impact on the force, nothing he had ever felt could be replied on.
She lowered her head and looked away, causing him to tighten his grasp slightly, but instead of the attack he half expected, she turned away and turned her lightsabre off. Suddenly her side of the clearing was cast in shadow and hr pale face seemed to shine in the glow of the three moons and his lightsabre. A tendril of fear began to gnaw at his stomach. She was still silent and the strain was beginning to hurt.
“I lied to you once, Beyorn, the first day I met you on Nulles four months ago. I told you I was a part of the political exchange programme but I was there to assassinate the First Minister. Since that day I suppose I may have let you believe certain things but… I did it because of what I felt for you.” She turned back and faced him and the lightsaber fell from her grip onto the soaked grass. “Beyorn, I love you.”
She moved forward and placed her hand on his face, he flinched and then closed his eyes as her soft hand caressed his cheek. The tendril of fear grew and he now understood why it was penetrating through his training. He loved her and that was going to lead him to his damnation.
End of part 1.
EDIT: Had someone asking and yes, keep reading and there are lightsabre battles.
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[–]fringly 43 points
10 hours ago
The shuttle was small and cramped, they had borrowed it from the Nulles Royal hanger to bring them to this small forested moon so that they could enjoy some privacy. As a padawan Beyorn was well known across court and it had not gone unnoticed that he had spend a lot of time with the attractive exchange student, who was supposedly there to learn in preparation for a position in the Chethin Senatorial delegation.
Beyorn and his Master, Khi Murano had a years posting to the Nulles court as advisors, a rare posting but the importance of the Nulles trade routes meant that the Galactic Senate required a diplomatic presence on planet at almost all times and Master Murano was a skilled diplomat and Beyorn was a Jedi Consular in training and so this had seemed the perfect posting.
Beyorn and Chiara had attended several classes together and had felt an affinity at once but it had been several weeks before they had spend any time together. A trip out to a coastal town to observe a Nulles ritual, a broken speeder on the way back, a three day walk through the woods until reaching civilisation and the two had become firm friends. It had not taken long for it to grow to more than that.
Since they had come in from the rain they hadn’t said a word to each other. Beyorn had plotted a route home and they had dried off as best they could. Now they sat, inches apart but each seemingly lost in their own thoughts.
“Why did you tell me?” His voice startled him, he’d been thinking it and it had come out inadvertently.
She looked across at him and her eyes flashed from blue to purple, he’d seen it happen before when she was embarrassed or excited, he wasn’t sure which it was now. “I needed to tell you I loved you.” Her voice was hesitant and low “I couldn’t do that if… If you didn’t know that I was a Sith.”
Sith, the word still made his head reel. All the holocrons, all the classes, all the warnings! They’d said the Sith were cruel, powerful, evil, manipulative and dangerous. They had never said that they could also be a thin, gangly girl with a cute crooked smile, long red hair and the ability to make you laugh until your sides ached with pain.
“You know my life, you know who I am, I told you about my upbringing in the temple, my training, my master, I know nothing about you.” His voice started steady and broke towards the end. He flushed in embarrassment at not being able to control himself once again.
The stars flashed past through the window and for a moment they sat in silence, the heavy unspoken words laying between them. At last she began. “I’m not so different. I don’t know who my parents are or where I was born. The first thing I remember is pain, terrible, terrible pain. My master had taken my from my home and placed my with Dark Acolytes. I was trained to be strong and powerful from the start. There were many of us, male, female, human and all species of alien. The dark mothers fed us, clothed us and punished us. The older acolytes taught us to feel pain and fear and to use these emotions to access the force.”
She paused and looked at him “I will tell you what I can but some things… some of the training was too… too much to talk of even now.” Since they had entered the ship he had been able to feel her in the force again and now the emotion suddenly poured off her and flooded him with pain and fear. He gasped and she pulled back, her emotions pulling back into her and physically she grabbed her knees and pulled them to her chest in the chair. “I’m sorry, I have to control myself, I didn’t mean to let go.” He reached out and toughed her hand and she smiled a little at him. “We trained for 10 years and many fell. At last there were only three, myself and my two bothers. The master had been following us closely and at age ten we were brought before him in the arena. We were each presented with our first lightsabre and…” She paused for a moment and took a breath “And then we were told that only one would live. I didn’t want to but they both fell to me. Easily.”
He turned to look at her but she turned away and pulled her hand from his “From then, my master trained me himself and I learned much at his side. At fifteen, when I was sent to the Nulles court, I had been on over 50 missions and completed them all successfully. I was to infiltrate and take out the First Minister and… and your Master.”
“What do we do now?” Beyorn’s mind was filled with doubt, was she now being honest, he believed her but she was a Sith but if she loved him then maybe this meant she was ready to turn from the dark side. He wanted to ask but he feared the answer.
“My Master will have believed me dead and failed when I didn’t return but yesterday I believe a bounty hunter spotted me. By now he will know and be looking for me. I will have to return to him or run but either way I needed you to know… that I loved you.”
His heart broke, her eyes were filled with sorrow and pain and he pulled her towards him and kissed her deeply. At last he broke away “Chiara, I love you and whatever we face, we face together.” She smiled for the first time and kissed him again.
The explosion tore them free from hyperspace and filled the cockpit with black acrid smoke. Beyorn could hear Chiara scream but he could not move. Suddenly, with great screaming of metal, the front of the small shuttle was ripped off like paper and flung away.
They were in the bay of a much larger ship and their own craft had been ripped in two. In front of the craft stood a tall man with black hair and black eyes; he gestured and Chiara flew from the craft and was suspended in front of him, chocking and struggling. Another gesture pinned Beyorn to his seat, holding him more strongly than anything he had ever felt.
As he spoke the words seemed to drill into Beyorn’s skull “Welcome home my young apprentice, I see you have brought me a present.” Beyorn slowly felt the air leaving him and everything went black as he passed out.
End of part 2
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[–]fringly 31 points
9 hours ago
Beyorn awoke with his head throbbing with pain. It was dark and when he tried to move he discovered he was in a box only slightly bigger than his body. He calmed himself and tried to reach out and feel his surroundings instead of relying on his eyes which were useless in the dark.
His mind kept trying to stab in thoughts of Chiara, where was she, was she hurt, was she killed, was he going to be killed next? He forced himself to concentrate and think on his Master, Khi Murano. Master Murano had taken him as a Padawn nearly ten years ago, he had been a feisty student, tall and strong with sandy hair and an impetuous nature. The temple had been too confining or him and the council had decided that he would struggle to develop if he remained but Master Murano had asked to train him.
Years later he had asked why he had chosen Beyorn and Murano had told him that it was because they were so different. Beyorn was headstrong and took to his fists but Murano avoided confrontation unless absolutely necessary. He told Beyorn that one day he had overheard him arguing with Master Phot about the proper use of the holocrons. Master Phot felt that only serious study of the holocrons should be allowed but young Beyorn had wanted to look through the historical records as he loved learning about the old Jedi ways. This love of learning and his eloquence against the Master in the debate had persuaded Murano that Beyorn would be better using his brain than his fists and that Murano was the one to train him.
Murano had been a kind Master, it had taken several years for the two to become fast friends but Murano’s job as a diplomat kept them moving and so Beyorn was kept satisfied with a new adventure and new things to learn constantly. Almost immediately he had become a calmer and more patient young Jedi and over the years he had grown taller and stronger, although his hair remained an unruly sandy mop. Their posting on Nulles had been the longest that they had ever stayed on one planet and until Chiara, Beyorn had been worried he’d be bored.
Is thoughts had brought him back to Chiara but now he was calmer, thinking on his Master had allowed him to calm his mind after the day of emotional stress. For the first time he began to assess his situation and how he could act.
He felt that the casket he was in was within a larger room and soon he was attuned enough to be confident that there was no one within that room or nearby. Being trapped in a small space held no fear for him, he had spent his whole life on ships and as he was normally the smallest, any awkward repairs had normally fallen to him.
He breathed calmly and steadily and felt the walls of the casket, metal but not thick. It sealed at the side with three heavy bolts which were held magnetically. He smiled, magnets were not a problem, it was all just a series of forces and he was very good at knowing where to apply just a little push.
A click signified that the locks had opened and he pushed up and freed himself. The room was some sort of storage bay, crates and pods lined the walls – at once end an airlock and the other end a doorway. He chose the doorway. He strained every sense as he walked to try to sense anyone nearby but he could not feel anything. A slight sense of unease reminded him that Chiara had been able to hide herself in the force from him before. God alone knew what her master would be able to do.
As he grew closer to the door suddenly he felt something strange in the force. – an eddy, or disturbance but in a strangely familiar way. He pulled several crates from the wall until he found what he was looking for, a long metal case which he quickly pried open. Inside he found what he had felt and for the first time in a while a grim smile spread across his face. Lightsabres, more than a dozen and he could feel the crystals inside, they would work. He took one out and pressed the button and it purred to life thwummm, a dark red blade slid out and lit the room sinisterly. His grim smile grew. It wasn’t his first choice but now he was free and he was armed.
He took out two of the full size sabres and a smaller knife size one he found and tucked them into his belt and under his jacket. The door was unlocked and he slipped into the hallway, moving silently and swiftly. This was a large ship and he had two aims, find Chiara and find an escape. Considering how easily her master had found them before he suspected he may also need to disable the ship somehow but that would need to wait for now.
At last he found a stairwell, leading up and down. He opened his mind to the force and decided to go down. Two levels down and he felt something, just a whisper in his mind but enough for him to stop and exit on that level. He prowled along until at last he heard a noise, footsteps. He was approaching a corner and the noise was around but some distance away, he slipped silently to the corner and peeked around. Droids.
There were six of them, heavily armed and mean looking. He’d never seen anything like them before but he wanted to take no chances. She gripped a lightsaber tightly and as they approached he spun around the corner and on one motion sliced two of them into dozens of pieces with swift sharp motions.
With a blast from the force he slammed the sliced pieces of the droids into the two behind smashing them against the wall. He spun and cut down on the last two, hoping to disable them before the second pair could regain their footing but the second’s notice had been all they needed and the first droid held his arm up enveloped in a soft pink glow and it blocked the blade.
Beyorn gaped, he’d never heard of a forcefield which could completely deflect a lightsaber blade but this had completely stopped his. In a second the other droid had raise its weapon and Beyorn had to swiftly move to block the blast from its rifle. He swung swiftly striking high and low but each time the droids moved faster, blocking his blows and firing shots at the young Jedi in between blocks. He drove them backwards, at least he was able to move them he grimly though.
His senses had been focussed forward but suddenly he felt a change from behind him and spun around. The two droids he had smashed into the wall were advancing and now he was surrounded in the small corridor. All four droids had softly glowing arms and were holding blasters. This was going to get interesting.
End of Part three.
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[–]fringly 27 points
8 hours ago
Beyorn looked from side to side, the droids had stopped and were blocking his escape in either direction. All four began to fire continuously and Beyorn’s lightsabre was a blur deflecting each blast, the droids fired faster and faster until suddenly one stopped, the top of a red lightsabre pushed through its chest from behind and the droid dropped leaving the sabre hanging in mid air as Beyorn held it with the force. Then it flipped on its end and as he held off the other three it plunged into the floor and a moment later erupted from the floor and up the leg of the next droid.
With one side now free Beyorn spun to face his last two attackers, still deflecting each blast away from his body. The second sabre floated back to his hand and now he advanced n the droids. The blasts were now being deflected back into the droids and the pink forcefield was glowing all over the droids body as it tried to adsorb the force of the blasts, as the got nearer he focused all the deflections onto the head of one droid and after a moment the forcefield gave out, the droids head imploded and a moment later Beyorn had split it end to end.
With a final spin he knocked away the last blasts and with a scream he slammed the lightsabres into either side of the final droids head and after a second’s resistance it gave way and the blades passed through and then down into the body cavity. The hallway fell silent except for his panting. The lightsabres flicked off and he gratefully reattached them to his belt, impressed at their handing.
He took a moment to calm himself and find his balance and then reached out again. He felt no moment but the amount of noise that he had made it was impossible to think that no one had heard. Then it came again. A gasp of contact. Chiara.
He concentrated and tried to capture where the feeling had come from and at last felt confident in a direction. Swiftly he ran until at last he came to a door, similar to all the rest but this one was sealed more tightly and he could sense it was thicker. He placed his hands flat onto the door and felt the mechanism within and let his mind slowly unravel the puzzle until with a click and a whirr the door opened.
Inside a small room was crackling with energy and as he opened the door Chiara’s screams flooded out into the hallway and filled his mind and ears. She was strapped to a board while a black floating torture device inserted needles into her naked body. The board flickered with power and was constantly filling her with pain while the device concentrated on one part at a time, using her bodies own sensory capability to force her into the most excruciating agony.
The pain and anger flooded Beyorn and instinctually he pushed forward, crushing the torture device against the wall and ripping the bed from its base and holding it in mid air. Power crackled around the device for a moment and then the room slipped into darkness.
Beyorn lowered Chiara to the ground and snapped clear the restraints. One of her legs had been opened with a wide incision and the pain wand was still buried deeply. He pulled it free and carefully eased the leg from its restraint. It seemed well cauterised as no blood flowed but it was gruesome to see each muscle exposed. Looking around he found her clothes were stored in a small cupboard along with medical supplies, presumably in case they did some damage they needed to repair. This was beyond his ability to heal, even with dermal regenerators and the other equipment he had. She was barely conscious and so he slipped her clothes on as best he could, bound her wound and, taking the medical supplies he carried her out of the room.
Now he had her he needed to find a way out but he was sure now that he would not be left alone for much longer. Her Master was sure to know he had removed Chiara from the device and be on his way. Skidding down corridors he now ran, looking for something, anything that looked like a hanger. He stopped and looked in rooms but all he found were labs and storage and rooms of machinery doing things he didn’t recognise. He looked on the floor above but it was move of the same, he was going to have to go higher.
Two more floors up and the stairs went no higher. The corridors were wider and brighter here and to his huge relief, there were signs. He briefly considered aiming for the flight deck but the unconscious Chiara in his arms made his mind up and he headed for the hanger. On the way he found more droids but this time he carefully avoided them, stepping into side rooms which were set up as guest quarters or conference rooms and letting them go past. Finally he found the doors to the main hanger and carefully entered, ducking behind some crates to look around the wide open room.
The vast room was open at once end to space, a huge force field holding out the vacuum. Two levels of walkways skirted around the edges of the rooms but Beyorn’s eyes were drawn to the row of small transport ships near to him which all looked hyperdrive enabled. Further away fighters lined the other wall and he considered making a break for them but it was added risk.
Chiara now opened her eyes and looked up at him and frowned in confusion. “You’re dead?” She murmured. He smiled at her puzzled face, she hated admitting she didn’t know something and he’d almost never seen her confused smile. It pulled his heart. He made up his mind the transports were just a few hundred yards away, across open hanger. He had to risk it.
Around the room were droids but few seemed armed, he broke from the crates and proceeded at a flat run towards the nearest transport. From the side he heard a whistle of alarm go up but the sound that stopped him dead was the low chuckle.
End of Part four.
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[–]fringly 29 points
8 hours ago
From behind the transport stepped Chiara’s master. His voice was deep and each word seemed to beat down on Beyorn, making him feel like throwing himself at this man’s mercy. The power rippled off him.
“Well done little Padawan.” He smiled and it was devastating to Beyorn, his confidence ripped away and he knew he was hopelessly, hopelessly outmatched. Already he could feel his strength slip away and he fell to a knee to keep holding Chiara.
The Master walked towards them and stopped short just ahead of them. “I knew this would be fun when I found my little lovers but this, well, you’ve exceeded all my expectations. I was going to use you to keep her in line for a while but now, well, maybe I’ll keep you both. Suitably trained of course.” He extended his arm and force lightening arced across to Beyorn. With his last strength he pushed Chiara away and she rolled far enough from him to avoid being hit. The lightening hit him full in the chest and he screamed. He lungs felt like they would explode and he willed himself to die, to simply explode into nothing.
At last it stopped and he found himself on the ground. The Master had walked to Chiara and was stooping over her, he extended his arm as he had at Beyorn but Beyorn found a strength he hadn’t even imagined he possessed and pulled himself to his knee. The Master looked back and saw the young Padawan try to pull himself upright and smiled. This one was strong indeed and his emotions gave him strength, there was great potential here.
He turned back to Beyorn and held his hand out again and force lightening rippled forward a second time but this time, to his surprise Beyorn held the light sabre in front of him and the lightening grounded itself harmlessly.
Beyorn spat out a mouthful of blood and through gritted teeth he finally found himself able to speak “You will not touch her, she is no longer yours, she is mine” with a wild cry he launched himself forward at the Master, swinging wildly. The Master threw his long cloak to one side and in one sift motion drew his own sabre and easily parried the blow.
He chuckled “Well done Padawan, now you have a possession, but you will learn that if you have possessions then you must struggle to keep them.” He flicked back with his lightsabre and Beyorn flew across the room and slammed into the side of one of the transports. He felt his ribs break and the pain spread across his body. The Master approached slowly and with a wave the two sabre’s on Beyorn’s belt were flung away and smashed against the wall.
The Master stood over Beyorn and smiled grimly “You are now MY possession little one” the words bore into Beyorn’s brain and he felt his lips begin to form the words. Before he could speak an explosion rocked the hanger and two of the fighters exploded. Beyorn and the Master looked up and a Jedi fighter streaked into the hanger and a figure flipped from within and landed on the floor.
The Master took a step back and, for the first time, looked slightly unsure. From the smoke and flames a figure emerged, Beyorn gasped. It was his Master Khi Murano. The normally stoic figure now had a face of stony rage. The Sith Master drew back “Master Murano, how nice of you to join us. It seems I am going from two new playthings to three.
Murano did not stop, his advanced and his thin frame seemed to grow and impose itself on the scene. The Sith Master took two steps back and fixed on Murano. At last when he was just a few steps from the two Murano stopped.
“Beyorn,” his voice was soft and gentle as always “get into the ship and leave.” He looked to the side and saw Chiara lying there, a moments puzzlement crossed his face before it was pushed aside. “Take her” he added.
Beyorn scrambled up and ran to Chiara and scooped her into his arms. The two Masters stood face to face, unmoving. Murano held his lightsabre up and extended the green blade. After a moment the Sith Master’s blade came to life, down by his side and glowing red and sinister.
Beyorn carried Chiara to the Jedi craft, there was space in the back and he lay her down and started the emergency medical bot. he considered his options for a moment and then ran from the craft and back to his Master’s side.
“I told you to leave Beyorn.” Murano’s voice was still soft but strained.
“He’s strong and fast and can fire some sort of lightening from his fingers Beyorn replied.
Murano smiled and slipped a second lightsabre from his cloak. “Stay back and strike when you see an opening.” Before Beyorn could respond Murano had struck forward, his sabre glowing as he struck down, he slammed the blade into the Sith Master who reeled backwards at the ferocity of the attack from his slight, gentle looking man.
Murano spun and struck low and high but after a moment Beyorn realised that the Sith Master, after the initial surpise of the attack, was holding off Murano fairly easily. He slipped around the side and waited, after a few moments the Sith Master saw a chance and as Murano struck he slid around and flashed his sabre towards Murano’s midsection, Beyorn however was ready and fast as a flash he had blocked it and swept the blade up, leaving the Sith Master open to a strike from Murano.
The Sith Master spun backwards to avoid the strike and then rounded and attacked Beyorn, smashing the lightsabre from his grip and then pushing him back into a wall. Beyorn’s broken ribs ground together and he screamed in pain and darkness floated past his vision.
The Masters now had felt each other out and the blades were spinning and whirring faster than beyorn could follow, he propped himself up and tried to stand but his midsection was too badly hurt. The Masters spun and clased but after a moment the inevitable happened and Murano’s sabre flew away and with a gesture the Sith Master crushed it.
Lightening arced again from his fingers and Murano crumpled into a ball as it powered into him. Beyorn could feel his life slipping away as Murano grew weaker. The Sith Master lifted his head and roared in pleasure and victory.
A low light flew across the room and the Sith Master Screamed in pain and looked down. Sticking in his leg was the small lightsabre that Beyorn had taken earlier and had now used the last of his strength to power into his thigh. Blood, thick and rich flowed out and began to pump onto the floor. With a scream the Sith Master pulled the sabre from his leg and limping fled the room.
After a moment Murano uncurled and was able to move. Beyorn and he crawled together and then helped each other to stand. They limped back to the ship and quickly took off and away from the Sith ship.
Beyorn sat in the back and watched over Chiara and at last Murano came back once the jump to hyperspace was complete. He sat for a moment and watched and understood all the Beyorn had hidden from him. Beyorn could feel Murano putting together the pieces but he knew that if he found out everything then Chiara would be in worse danger than she had been on the ship. He prepared himself and cleared his mind and hid his true feelings from his Master and prepared to deceive the person closest to him.
“Master Murano, it’s time you knew the truth.”
End.
I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for the prompt. Apologies for any spelling mistakes etc.