THEN
The dark was all that Taal had known.
He had been born underground, a miner by birth, to exist beneath the surface of a planet not even his parents knew the name of. Dimly lit tunnels of dirt, a mass of catacombs, were his livelihood and existence. He had no concept of the sky, of oceans, of open spaces or the galaxy beyond that. Childhood was formed in hovels of communities carved out of the rock filled with huts of mud. He breathed stale air, recycled by long rubber and metal pipes that snaked into whatever tunnels were being drilled or mined.
A mother, a father, an older brother, Taal had these.
But also others, strangers in armor and helmets, those who commanded the miners.
Dig. Dig. Drill. Drill. Remove the rocks and dirt.
For Taal every day was the same; he would wake, he would eat from his bowl, he would wash with a basin of dirty water and then he would work. Long days, indicated only by time passed, where Taal would work alongside his brother and remove the crushed or displaced masses of soil and rock. The boy didn't know how old he was, not really, but years spent with his family were enough and all he needed - he had no reason to think otherwise, no experience or want of the outside, no knowledge beyond what he knew.
When Taal wasn't working the buckets, he was scouting the tunnels. Taal did that, because he had the Force; or that's what the armored leaders said, when he had revealed his power to save another miner from a falling rock. It turned out all of Taal's family did. Each one of them had the Force, but Taal was different, he was good at finding the precious stones that were mined.
When asked, Taal said he could hear them.
In the tunnels, he could trace his hands along the tunnel walls and find the places to dig. He was invaluable, like his family.
When Taal did well, he was rewarded; one armored leader brought a doll, and another time extra rations, and another something called chocolate. It spurred Taal to try harder and harder, to find more and more stones, to find them all and get special gifts. As the years continued, the boy's sensitivity grew, his senses refined and his precision uncanny. He explained the lines, the cracks he could follow, and after a number of years was able to 'see' dozens of meters into the solid rock and soil.
That was Taal's life.
He would wake, he would eat from his bowl, he would wash with a basin of dirty water and then he would work. Yet, Taal was happy, he had his family and he had gifts when he did well.
But, when Taal didn't work well, those gifts were taken.
That made him angry.
The first time Taal got angry, punishment had been sudden and severe. His father, the least powerful with the Force, had been beaten to near death. An example, the helmet wearing leader had said, to remind them of their place, and many months passed before Taal's father had been able to walk right again... but that entire time, his father had been made to work, everyone worked, or they were taken away and never seen again.
That happened to the old ones, too.
Or the injured.
Taal's mother was taken, never to be seen again, when a rock had crushed her leg. That had made Taal angry again, he had felt the Force in his fingertips, felt burning pain as she was dragged away to the metal doors that had light beyond them when they opened. Taal had made the tunnels shake, but one of the armored leaders had smacked him on the back of the head, it had made the boy go unconscious... and when he woke up, Taal saw his father had been beaten again.
But that time his father didn't get better.
He was taken, too.
It was Taal and his brother for a long time after that, for many sleeps. It was explained that if Taal acted out again, then his brother would be taken next. That kept the boy in line, controlled, it pushed the anger down and caused him to do his work. He missed his mother and father, he knew they were dead, he could feel their absence. All that remained was his brother and him, the only family left, the only person who mattered now.
That had been Taal's life.
Until the day it changed...
The dark was all that Taal had known.
He had been born underground, a miner by birth, to exist beneath the surface of a planet not even his parents knew the name of. Dimly lit tunnels of dirt, a mass of catacombs, were his livelihood and existence. He had no concept of the sky, of oceans, of open spaces or the galaxy beyond that. Childhood was formed in hovels of communities carved out of the rock filled with huts of mud. He breathed stale air, recycled by long rubber and metal pipes that snaked into whatever tunnels were being drilled or mined.
A mother, a father, an older brother, Taal had these.
But also others, strangers in armor and helmets, those who commanded the miners.
Dig. Dig. Drill. Drill. Remove the rocks and dirt.
For Taal every day was the same; he would wake, he would eat from his bowl, he would wash with a basin of dirty water and then he would work. Long days, indicated only by time passed, where Taal would work alongside his brother and remove the crushed or displaced masses of soil and rock. The boy didn't know how old he was, not really, but years spent with his family were enough and all he needed - he had no reason to think otherwise, no experience or want of the outside, no knowledge beyond what he knew.
When Taal wasn't working the buckets, he was scouting the tunnels. Taal did that, because he had the Force; or that's what the armored leaders said, when he had revealed his power to save another miner from a falling rock. It turned out all of Taal's family did. Each one of them had the Force, but Taal was different, he was good at finding the precious stones that were mined.
When asked, Taal said he could hear them.
In the tunnels, he could trace his hands along the tunnel walls and find the places to dig. He was invaluable, like his family.
When Taal did well, he was rewarded; one armored leader brought a doll, and another time extra rations, and another something called chocolate. It spurred Taal to try harder and harder, to find more and more stones, to find them all and get special gifts. As the years continued, the boy's sensitivity grew, his senses refined and his precision uncanny. He explained the lines, the cracks he could follow, and after a number of years was able to 'see' dozens of meters into the solid rock and soil.
That was Taal's life.
He would wake, he would eat from his bowl, he would wash with a basin of dirty water and then he would work. Yet, Taal was happy, he had his family and he had gifts when he did well.
But, when Taal didn't work well, those gifts were taken.
That made him angry.
The first time Taal got angry, punishment had been sudden and severe. His father, the least powerful with the Force, had been beaten to near death. An example, the helmet wearing leader had said, to remind them of their place, and many months passed before Taal's father had been able to walk right again... but that entire time, his father had been made to work, everyone worked, or they were taken away and never seen again.
That happened to the old ones, too.
Or the injured.
Taal's mother was taken, never to be seen again, when a rock had crushed her leg. That had made Taal angry again, he had felt the Force in his fingertips, felt burning pain as she was dragged away to the metal doors that had light beyond them when they opened. Taal had made the tunnels shake, but one of the armored leaders had smacked him on the back of the head, it had made the boy go unconscious... and when he woke up, Taal saw his father had been beaten again.
But that time his father didn't get better.
He was taken, too.
It was Taal and his brother for a long time after that, for many sleeps. It was explained that if Taal acted out again, then his brother would be taken next. That kept the boy in line, controlled, it pushed the anger down and caused him to do his work. He missed his mother and father, he knew they were dead, he could feel their absence. All that remained was his brother and him, the only family left, the only person who mattered now.
That had been Taal's life.
Until the day it changed...
___________________________________________________________________