Chapter 6: Year 5 Part 1-GorgaraNotes:I know I said the next chapter would be out this Saturday, but a reader asked if I would release an extra Chapter this week because of the Holidays. I liked the idea, and I know with it being 2020 and all that this Holiday season, for many people and for many reasons, will not be the best. So I decided to release this Chapter on Christmas Eve, and Chapter 7 will be released this Saturday. Happy Holidays!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextEver since the incident at the Temple there had been an increased number of Nightbrother patrols across the mountain. When Cal had first traveled up to the peak it was rather easy to make his way up undetected by any patrols. It seemed that before the incident it was believed by the Nightbrothers that Cal stayed in the swamplands below. After the Nightsister discovered him at the temple this belief must have changed, and the patrols soon started covering the mountains as well as the swampland. What was worse was the almost consistent Nightbrother presence around the base of the mountain making it particularly risky to leave the mountain for the swampland. Meaning Cal was more or less stuck living on the mountain for the time being, until the consistent watch of the mountain base ends.
The only small improvement to Cal's situation was that he no longer needed to go out of his way to hide his fire's smoke. The Nightbrothers have many camps up and down the mountain that are constantly moving. Each camp has at least one fire for cooking. What's one more fire smoke stack among dozens?
Running and hiding from his hunters has caused Cal to grow increasingly knowledgeable about the mountain. He has all but discovered everything near the base and middle. The Jedi even discovered the Nightbrother village. He keeps his distance from the peak. The visions from the temple still haunted him, and he was fully aware the Nightsister lived near the peak. He wanted to avoid her as much as possible. If the Nightbrother patrols were dangerous, she was deadly. In his last encounter he had been more lucky than anything. How he was able to harness the force to such a degree in his troubled state was beyond him, and it had scared him.
There had been a few close calls in his time on the mountain. Both with the Nightbrother presence as well as the wildlife. Those long limbed creatures seemed to live in a considerable number here, and Dathomirian spiders were everywhere. Some Nightbrother even seemed to use the spiders as pets, guard animals, and hunting companions.
Cal had even found the nest/cave of that giant bat-like creature. He had found a lone Nightbrother warrior traveling the mountain. This had piqued the Jedi's interest as Nightbrothers rarely hunted alone. Infact Cal can't recall ever seeing a lone Nightbrother that wasn't already dead. So, looking for something to occupy himself, Cal followed the Nightbrother. The warrior was rather young compared to many of his kind, seeming to be about the same age as Cal, maybe a little older. He had followed the unsuspecting Nightbrother into a massive cave only to find that the cave had been the home of the giant bat creature Cal had seen a while back. The young Nightbrother seemed to want to challenge the creature. Why? Cal had no clue, from what he could see the challenge was a death sentence for the hunter. The 'fight' if you could really call it that was little more than hopeless. It wasn't long until the Nightbrother was impaled on the claw of the creature's right wing. The bat hadn't even taken a blow from the now dead Nightbrother.
Having no wish to see the creature enjoy it's lunch delivery, or risk becoming a meal himself, Cal swiftly left before the creature could spot him.
[Break]
When Cal had lost his master's weapon and had taken more time between meditations, the dark force of the planet had slowly begun to creep closer. Never too close as Cal had still kept up the practice of centering himself with meditation, even if it became more and more infrequent. But the presence had still been there, leaving the young Jedi feeling boxed in. His only true escape had been sleep and dreams. Cal had always been a frequent dreamer. Almost every time he fell asleep he would dream. He would often dream of better times. When he had found his kyber crystal as a youngling at the jedi temple on Ilum. When he had been chosen as the apprentice of Jedi Master Jaro Tapal. Even during his exhausting training aboard the Albedo Brave. Training that Cal had disliked at the time, but looking back now Cal only saw them as happy times.
Sleep no longer helped. It was no longer an escape back to better times. After his visions at the temple Cal no longer experienced dreams, only nightmares. All the nightmares were the same, the visions he had lived through at the temple along with the words of the vision version of his dead master. Every night it replayed in his sleep. It was a mercy when the nightmares forced him to wake early, but more often than not the nightmares plagued his mind until the red light of Dathomir's sun forced him awake.
[Break]
Nightmares have haunted Merrin for years. In truth she can't really remember what true sleep felt like. Waking up feeling rested and ready for the day ahead was a joke to her. She had little hope that she would ever be free from these Nightmares. She was content with it, grown used to it really.
She had eventually found an escape that eased her mind and body. Meditation. And when she had found the Light of Dathomir in her meditations it had led to better rest from the practice. She would use her meditative state to watch her Light as it moved across Dathomir. Always hoping it would make its way to her, but never desperate enough to seek it out on her own.
But things have changed.
After the Jedi had been found in the temple her Light hadn't been the same. It had made its way to her mountain, and had begun to traverse the lower and middle portions. It never made its way to the peak, never to her. Merrin would have been content with this. She had been patient for years, she would wait until old age took her if she must. She got all the joy, solace, and comfort she needed by watching her Light through meditation. But the Jedi must have done something. The Light, her Light, the Light that reminded the Nightsister so much of Ilyana was fading into the darkness that was planet Dathomir.
It had started gradually after her last run in with the Jedi. Its Light started losing it's clearness and started turning ever so slowly gray. Even if it was gray it was still distinguishable from the darkness of every other creature on Dathomir. But it was just wishful thinking that it would finish fading to gray. Merrin knew it would fade into the darkness, lost forever to her.
Watching this fading away pained, hurt the Night sister to her very being. But she wouldn't stop her meditations, no matter how deeply they stung her. Every meditation she feared that this would be the last meditation she would sense it before it faded into the dark sea. So she continued watching. But she had grown too tired and too desperate to just wait for the loss of another light.
She could not, would not survive such a loss. It would destroy her. The Light had been the only thing keeping the broken Nightsister from falling apart. Perhaps if the Light had never appeared Merrin would have been fine, never growing a need for it. But there was little to gain by thinking about that now.
Merrin made the decision to finally go after the producer of this Light of Dathomir. She would hunt it down, take it, and protect it with all that she has. It would finally be hers to protect it from the darkness that was this planet. It would not be stolen from her like Ilyana was.
So Merrin set out to find the Light that traveled the same mountain as her. It was slow going as her Light was fast, and she could only sense it when in a deep meditative state. But the Nightsister had her magicks to help her traverse the mountain, and she was more knowledgeable of the mountain's terrain than even the longest of lived Nightbrothers. Slow progress, but progress was being made.
Finally she was almost on top of the producer of Light. Any moment and she would find it, see it. Moments away from sighting what had been Merrins obsession for the last two years of her life. Her rock, her beacon, her distraction.
Then things changed once again.
A paralyzing screech rang out from above. A large shadow blocked out the red sun of Dathomir. It was a screech Merrin knew well. It was a shadow Merrin knew well. The true queen of the mountain was descending upon the lone Nightsister. The cruelty of Dathomir had once again been brought to bear.
[Break]
Cal was being followed. He could sense it. Someone or something was tracking him down. When the young Jedi had first felt this, it wasn't much of a concern. He had escaped many hunters before, be they wildlife or Nightbrother they would be easy enough to lose before he was found.
But that's not what happened.
Whatever or whomever was his pursuer couldn't be thrown off his trail. Cal would conceal his tracks to near non existence. He would traverse terrain that only a force enhanced being could. And each time his pursuer would continue on his trail. Never slowed, never thrown off. Able to keep up with his super human travel speed, and using his attempts to hide his tracks to creep ever closer. The distance between himself and his hunter only shrunk. It wouldn't be long until they would be on top of Cal.
Cal had tried avoiding combat as much as possible sense his run in with the Nightsister. He couldn't afford to get heavily injured when surrounded by enemies. He ran or hid from all Nightbrother patrols he encountered. Doing the same when faced with hostile wildlife, outside of hunting for his next meal.
That wasn't going to be an option this time around. His pursuer wouldn't give up the chase, nor would he be able to hide from them. Cal would be forced into combat once again.
'Good'
So he slowed his pace. Not by a suspicious amount, he didn't want to tip off his hunter. As he traveled onwards he searched for the ideal spot to ambush the skilled tracker. It wasn't long until he found it. A flat, open clearing next to a cliffside Cal could conceal himself atop. He would wait for the hunter to follow his trail past the cliff wall, then jump down, striking down his enemy before they would have a chance to fight back.
'Yes, kill them'
Looking down at the clearing below, it wouldn't be long until his hunter revealed themselves. And there they were. The resident Nightsister. She seemingly glided across the clearing, her eyes searching with a silent determination. She fails to search above her as her eyes scanned the clearing. 'It's funny how often people neglect to look skywards.' Her mistake.
'Her last mistake'
How had she been able to track and follow him so well? Cal had an idea. That green power that tapped into the force, the sister used. If that was true then Cal would never be safe on this mountain as long as he shared it with her. No hide away would keep him safe as long as that Nightsister existed. She must be dealt with if Cal was to survive.
'It must be done, for survival'
Why she had chosen to hunt him without Nightbrothers in tow he couldn't imagine. Cal wouldn't complain about the lack of foes.
Any moment now she would walk past the cliff wall and Cal would pounce down. Killing the woman before she had a chance to fight back. Why he hadn't killed her back at the temple was beyond him. It was a lapse of judgment that Cal would rectify.
'Strike down your foe. Do it'
But mere moments before the deed was to be put into motion a massive screech shuck the mountain, and the sky grew dark.
Descending upon the lone Nightsister was the massive monster that was the bat-like creature. It's landing caused the very ground to shutter. The Nightsister lost her footing, falling against the cliff wall. She had no chance at escape, the bat was going to kill her.
'Perfect'
Great, perfect really. The Nightsister would be killed by this beast and Cal wouldn't have to raise a finger. The bloody work would be done for him. All he had to do was go and leave the creature to its meal. All the danger this Nightsister posed would disappear. Cal would once again be safe. A survivor.
'Leave her to her fate. It is the will of the Force'
Despite this Cal couldn't bring himself to leave, nor tear his eyes away from the scene. Voices shouting from within his mind. How long had those voices been there? How long had their words been influencing his actions. They kept whispering words, demands in his ears. Most spoke of leaving the woman to her fate, But Cal didn't recognize those voices. They were the whispers of the mountain, of the temple, of the darkside of this vermilion planet. But there was one smaller voice that struggled to fight for it's right to be heard. And though small it was, Cal recognized this voice. It was that of his deceased master, Jaro Tapal. Master Tapal's voice yelled at the Padawan. 'Save her', 'Protect a life', 'Fight this beast', 'This is what you trained for', 'Be a Jedi'. At that moment his masters voice grew in volume, snuffing out the darkness within Cal. Master Tapal's demands were all that mattered to the young Jedi at that moment.
He looked down at the Nightsister. She had closed her eyes, seemingly accepting her fate. Stoic, only a single tear betraying her true state of mind. It was a look of hers he had seen before, back at the temple months ago. When Cal could have easily killed her but didn't. He knew now why he had spared her that fate. Master Tapal's voice had been present than as well, though he had not realized. He had driven Cal to flee rather than take a life.
So here Cal was about to throw his life away to save someone who had tried to kill him twice before, and had been hunting him just moments before. Not because he forgave her. Not because he was better than her. But because he was a Jedi. He was a peacekeeper of the galaxy, and though he had forgotten that purpose for a time, he was not about to forget it now, when it mattered most, when a life was in danger.
Taking a split moment to steel himself, Cal leaped from the cliff. Into the fray the Jedi went; a tale as old as the order itself.
[Break]
Merrin's head was spinning from falling against the cliff wall, her head had been the first to make contact with the stone. Looking up from her sitting position, the force of nature that was, Gorgara loomed over the dazed Nightsister. It seemed to want to take it's time with her. Why shouldn't it? Merrin had no means to escape, her magick wouldn't come to her with her current dazed state, and no one would save the last daughter of Dathomir.
Merrin was going to die by the hands of the real queen of this mountain. The Nightsister may be the ruler of Dathomir, but Gorgara had little use for such cares.
After what felt like hours Gorgara finally made a move, slowly raising it's right wing. The beast's intentions clear, to impale the Nightsister on the wings' singular claw.
Just like when she had believed she was going to die by the Jedi's hands back at the temple months ago, Merrin closed her eyes a stoic expression forced onto her face. Images of her life before flooded her mind once again. Images of her sisters, mother, Ilyana. Memories of training her magick. But new memories joined the old. Memories of the Light of Dathomir during her meditations. She had been so close to her goal, so close to her Light. Dathomir, her home, is a cruel mistress. Merrin had always known this. The planet gives us magick but takes from us with cruel intentions for our failures.
What was Merrin's failure? She had failed her sisters. Failed to protect them, failed to die with them, and failed to avenge them. The Light she followed in meditation had never been real, just another cruel trick by the planet. A cruelty she deserved. The Light had led her to her death. Had that been the true purpose of the Light all along? To lead the broken Nightsister to an early end while ripping her one joy away from her.
A primal yell, too sentiant to be Gorgara, pulled Merrin's mind out of her dispar. The primal yell was soon drowned out by a screech of pain from Gorgara. Opening her eyes, what she saw made no sense to the young Nightsister.
The Jedi, where he had come from Merrin didn't know, had descended from above and stabbed his duskblade into Gorgara's right wing. As he fell to the ground he pulled the weapon down with him, cutting the wing membrane down the middle rendering the wing useless for flight.
Landing on his feet as the injured beast reared back in pain, the Jedi began yelling, screaming, and waving his arm. He ran away from Merrin's position, clearly attempting to draw the monster's attention away from her.
What was he doing here? Why was he putting himself in parel to save her? Him, a Jedi, saving her, a Nightsister. The questions were too much for her dazed mind to comprehend, let alone attempt to answer.
Gorgara had swiftly recovered from the shock and pain from having her wing rendered mostly useless. Eyeing the shouting Jedi with a wild fury, the beast charged with a swift gallop that looked awkward when being performed by a winged creature. Awkward it may look, it was still effective. The full weight of the creature attempted to slam into the Jedi, ramming him into the stone behind him. The Jedi retaliated by using the beast's own momentum against it. Right before the charge had connected the warrior raised his weapon. The duskblade was driven deep into Gorgara's skull. The charge was halted before it could crush the Jedi.
Gorgara recoiled, swinging her head in an animalistic attempt to sooth the new pain. The Jedi was thrown, losing hold of his blade that was still embedded into the beast's skull.
Tossed through the air, the Jedi landed haphazardly in front of the Nightsister, barely staying on his feet.
Without his weapon, and Gorgara clearly making for another charge, the Jedi warrior was pressed for options.
Making a split second decision Merrin called out to the Jedi. "Jedi! Your weapon!"
He turned to her in confusion. Merrin grabbed from her belt the Jedi weaponry and threw it to him. Catching it with a practised hand, he chose to hook it onto his belt rather than light it. He instead raised his hand in a deliberate manner. Merrin recognized this as the same Jedi magick he had used on her back at the temple. The air around Gorgara shuttered as the beast froze mid charge.
Turning back to her, the Jedi spoke with urgency. "Can you run?" She answered with a wordless nod of her head. He reached out with his hand, pulling the Nightsister from her seat against the wall. He pulled her away from the path of the slowed charge. A second after making it clear his Jedi magick released, freeing the beast to continue its charge straight into a cliff wall.
The Jedi released Merrin's hand, motioning for her to continue running. Unclipping his weapon from his belt, the blade of plasma came to life in an instant. Casting an intense blue glow over the warrior's face. He intended to meet the next charge head on, to stop Gorgara's charge before it could take them both.
Merrin ran to the edge of the clearing hiding between a Gravethorn and a stone wall. She watched as the Jedi raised his blackened crippled arm. Pushing it against the air in front of it, as if he were pushing a great mass. The rampaging beast was staggered momentarily as if it had been hit by an invisible mass. More Jedi magick.
Taking the opportunity, the Jedi charged the beast, hoping to avoid another stampede. He attacked the beast with his blade of blue plasma. Dodging swings from the massive clawed wings, and returning with shallow cuts and burns. To Merrin the performance looked to be akin to a dance rather than a true fighting style. But the dance faltered and the Jedi was knocked to the side with a blunt strike from a wing. His body landed with a dull thud. He made no move to get back up.
Gorgara turned from the Jedi's unmoving body, his attention falling onto Merrin. Approaching the Nightsister the beast destroyed the Gravethorn she was hiding behind. Once again Merrin was pinned between a wall and the queen of the mountain. At least she would die on her feet.
Gorgara raised her left wing ready to strike. It's claw was brought down to impale Merrin. Something shoved her out of the path of the deadly weapon's path. Looking up she had once again been saved by the Jedi. He had pushed her to the ground, but in doing so had taken the blow instead. His blood splattered across her face in a fine hot mist.
[Break]
Cal saw the blood as soon as he felt it. Unsurprisingly there was little pain, just like when he had lost his hand. His senses focused on the sensation of scorching blood flowing down his torso, dripping down to the ground below. Once again his blood seeps into the red dirt of Dathomir. He looked down at his new wound and grew light headed. He had avoided being impaled by the primal weapon, but hadn't avoided getting grazed. A large clean slash ran from his right shoulder stopping short of his left hip. Blood flowed like a wave from the tear.
The bat creature that had done this to him was reading another attack with it's injured wing. Another downward stroke was imminent. Cal went to move his arm to ready a perry and winced. His shoulder was definitely dislocated. Whether it was due to being hit by the beast or knocking the Nightsister out of the way didn't matter. He wasn't going to be able to perform the maneuver required to counter the oncoming claw.
In a last ditch effort the Jedi threw the lightsaber at the beast, using the movement of his body rather than the movement of his arm to power the thrown weapon's momentum. The sapphire blade haphazardly flew at it's target. The wings claw was sundered from it's post. Cal didn't even attempt to pull the blade back to his hand. The weapon continued its trajectory, clattering on the ground behind the howling beast, deactivated.
It wouldn't be long until the creature recovered from another injury, and then he and the Nightsister would be ended, becoming the creature's meal or, worse yet, toys.
It wouldn't be long until Cal blacked out from blood loss, he knew this. He needed to end this fight now. A glint caught the Jedi's attention, 'The duskblade is still embedded in the bat's head.' There was an idea. Mustering up the last of his strength Cal took hold of the weapon with the force. He slammed all the power he could muster into the blade, like a hammer to a nail. The blade was driven further into the monster's skull by an invisible mass.
'Should have done that from the beginning.'
As Cal's senses left him he wasn't able to perceive the sudden silence of the creature, nor the sight of the creature collapsing, or feel the quake of the ground as its body hit the earth. Nor did he feel the warm hands that caught his head before it hit the ground.
Notes:Next Chapter: Year 5 Part 2-Scars
I hope you enjoyed this Chapter. It was my favorite chapter I have released yet. Tell my, was it the fight you had expected?
Chapter 7: Year 5 Part 2-ScarsNotes:Here is the promised second chapter this week!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextThe Jedi's chest wound was bleeding profusely, making it difficult to tell how deep or how large the wound was. It was clearly deep enough to have gone through a few ribs, but whether it had made it past his muscle and tissue was less clear. It would be concerning if any of his organs had been damaged. His lungs were in the clear as both sides of his chest rouse, though only slightly. His hearts were clearly fine, as his blood was obviously flowing.
It was clear to the Nightsister that he would not last long.
Merrin could perform simple first aid, but would need her talisman and tools to be able to have a chance at saving him. At best she could buy herself more time. Raising her arms and whispering to her sisters and mother, Merrin covered the Jedi's laceration with a cloud of green ichor, stopping the loss of blood, if only temporarily. 'This will do for now.'
Without her talisman it would take her time to gather the magic needed to transport herself and her patient back home.
Merrin paused, a question making it to the forefront of her conscious, 'Why am I saving him?' He is a Jedi, her enemy, and clearly a very powerful one considering he had defeated Gorgara. Gorgara, the impossible challenge. Gorgara, quite possibly the deadliest creature on Dathomir. Gorgara the queen of this ancient mountain that had almost killed her. 'That is why I am saving him.' He had saved her, defended her, protected her and in doing so saved the last of the Nightsisters. Only an excuse to herself, Merrin knew, but she cared little. She was pressed for time and had little time to waist on internal struggles. Action now, think later.
She could already hear the distinct clicking sound of Bane Back Spiders. It wouldn't be long until those arachnid scavengers would be swarming the area to feast upon the dead royal Chirodactyl.
Thinking quickly, Merrin retrieved the Duskblade embedded in the skull of Gorgara. The blade coming free of the cavity it made rather easily. Next she retrieved the Jedi weapon. Going back to the unconscious body of the Jedi, she placed her hand upon his shoulder. Using the Duskblade as a pseudo-talisman she teleported herself and the Jedi away.
[Break]
Luckily for the Jedi, the damage taken in the battle with Gorgara was not nearly as bad as it looked. Several of his ribs had been shattered, and needed to be fused back together. His abe muscles had also been shredded through, but that had been the deepest it had gotten. The ribs had protected his upper organs, and the muscle had done the same for his intestines. Not including the ribs the Jedi had over a dozen bones cracked, broken, or shattered from being thrown around by the oversized bat. Needless to say those needed to be fused back together as well. A dozen bruises and minor lacerations had to be healed and/or stitched together. Some of the bruises had clearly predated the fight with Gorgara as many had been yellow, rather than the black or purple of a fresh bruise. The real danger had been in the loss of blood, but Merrin had closed him up in time. Despite the magick she had used to save him, it would still be a long process for the Jedi to be back to working condition. But for now he was out of danger. She had also healed the damage from his infected arm, the one with the missing hand. The infection had made its way up to the elbow, and had to be cut off if the rest of the arm along with his life was to be saved. After removing the infected portion of the arm, Merrin used her magick to stitch the arms end into a nub to prevent any chance of infection.
One interesting thing she had discovered when healing him was that he lacked a second heart. Dathomirians being a subspecies of Zabrak, they naturally had two hearts. Or at least the males did, after all Nightbrothers always took more from the Zabrak ancestry. Female Dathomirians, Nightsisters, took more from the human ancestry of Dathomirians. It's why Nightsisters had no horns and only one heart. Nightbrothers had an abundance of horns and two hearts.
Because the Jedi had only one heart and still looked similar in body structure to a Dathomirian, Merrin guessed he was a human. Merrin had never seen a human before. She had only heard of them. The exiled human Jedi, Alley had trained other human females in the ways of magick and bred with Zabrak males to create the modern Dathomirian species. Despite this human and Zabrak ancestry, Merrin had little knowledge of what humans or normal Zabraks look like.
Taking a closer look at the human Jedi before her, it was clear he was very much different than a male Dathomrian. First thing she noticed was his apparent age. He was much younger than she had expected. She never really got a good look at him in all their previous encounters. He looked to be only a year or two younger than herself. So young yet such a powerful and skilled warrior and Jedi magick user. She had noticed his orange hair and pale skin back at the temple, but they still fascinated her. Moving her hand through his hair, Merrin felt no horns. Having no horns, and having hair made him more like a Nightsister than a Nightbrother, but it was very clear that the Jedi was indeed a male. His hair color reminded the Nightsister of a sunset. His skin was also closer to that of a Nightsister than a Nightbrother. Nightbrothers had red, orange, green, or pink skin. Nightsisters had pale white skin. His skin though not as white or as pale as hers was still nothing like the colors found on Nightbrothers. His skin was covered in countless scars, large and small. Acidic burns (most likely from Bane Back Spiders), laceration scars, and even a few burn scars. One large burn scar on his back Merrin knew well. She had given it to him on their first encounter. The sight of the burn only brought turmoil to her mind, she chose to ignore it. Most of his scars covered his limbs, but a few covered his chest, neck, and head. Soon he will have many more from his fight with Gorgara, none more prominent than the giant gash across his chest.
The scar that the gash would grow into as it healed would be his trophy for slaying Gorgara. Merrin had never understood the Nightbrothers fascination with scars and other battle scars. Nightbrother culture viewed scars as trophies and examples of surviving what Dathomir would throw at them. Merrin and Nightsister culture viewed scars as examples of failure, mistakes that have been written permanently into one's skin. You don't gain scars from survival, but through lacking in the skill to prevail over a threat. But looking over the Jedi's many scars the Nightsister saw them as something else. The Jedi's scars show growth, how he gained his skills as a warrior, but she also saw the pain of living and surviving alone on a hostile planet. A part of Merrin hates that she had been a large part of that hostility, both directly with the burn scar on his back, as well as indirectly by the several scars that were no doubt given to him by the Nightbrothers she sent after him.
Merrin needed to stop dwelling on thoughts of the Jedi, and focus on other tasks. It would be awhile before the Jedi would awaken. Merrin needed to rest. She had exhausted herself healing the Jedi, as well as hunting down the Light…
She had forgotten about her hunt for the Light of Dathomir! The Nightsister had been too wrapped up in her near death experience as well as mending the Jedi that she had forgotten why she had been running all over the mountain in the first place. She had been interrupted in her search when she had been moments from her goal. Mere moments from finding the source of the light, and she had been attacked by one of the two things on this mountain that could kill her, and then been saved by the other.
A paranoid fear ran up the Nightsister's spin, bringing dread to the forefront of her exhausted and overworked mind. What if this delay proved detrimental? What if her Light had finally succumbed to the planet's influence and faded into the darkness? Last she remembered the Light of Dathomir had been dangerously close to disappearing forever. It was the whole reason that she had set out to find it in the first place, to find the source and protect it, safe guard it from the darkness of this bleak planet.
She needed to check immediately, and set out once again on her search for the light before it was too late. Rest was no longer a priority. 'What was that old foreigner saying Ilyana once spoke? "I'll rest when I am dead."' She prayed to her sisters and mother that she wasn't too late!
Leaving the room occupied by her patient, she quickly kneeled down to enter a meditative state. Finding it hard to center herself, with all the turmoil and fear in her mind, she desperately reached out with her magick to seek out the Light.
And what she saw made her pause.
The Light, her Light had recovered, not completely, but enough to become like a beacon across the planet. Found easily by the practiced Nightsister's magick senses. But it's recovery isn't what caused the Nightsister to mentily pause. The reason had been the location of the Light on the mountain. The Light was behind her, back in the room with the Jedi. Exiting meditation and leaping up, Merrin ran back to the Jedi's room. Looking around the small room, the Jedi was all alone just like she had left him moments ago. 'No… this can not be right.'
Kneeling down at the doorway of the room, Merrin hesitantly reentered meditation. She must be going mad, another trick of the planet maybe. Reaching out with her magick senses she searched out the Light of Dathomir once again. She hadn't been driven mad by the planet, and it was no mistake or trick of the senses. The Jedi, her enemy, her savior was the source of the Light. Had been the source all along. The emotional disorder this revelation caused forced the Nightsister out of Meditation. Exiting meditation, Merrin found water streaming down from her eyes. 'Why am I crying?'
Slowly standing, she approached the unconscious Jedi as if were a deadly predator that at any moment could awaken and attack. Impossible given his current state.
It made more sense than Merrin realized. When the Jedi had first been spotted in the swampland, it had been shortly after the Light had entered the swampland as well. After her first interaction with the Jedi where he had been injured by her, the Light had been moving erratically around the swampland at the base of the mountain, running and hiding from the patrols of Nightbrother hunters she realized. The Light had started fading after the Jedi had been encountered at the Temple. Merrin had at first blamed the Light's fading on the Jedi as well as the planet's influence, but no it was undeniable that Merrin had, in part, been responsible for the Lights fading.
Placing her hand on the Jedi's uninjured shoulder, Merrins conscious was flooded with a torrent of emotions. First confusion, then anger and hate, sadness and loss, then fear, and lastly regret and care. It all made no sense, and at the same time made more sense than she cared for. 'What am I to do?' She had sworn to kill the Jedi, but had also promised herself to protect this Light.
As her mind and emotions raced and combated for dominance, Merrin found herself both physically, mentualy, and emotionally exhausted. In her dazed state she found herself climbing onto the stone slab that had acted as the medical table for the young Jedi. Resting her head on his uninjured shoulder, Merrin fell asleep within moments. And for the first time since the death of her sisters, Merrin slept soundly, no nightmares to attack her subconscious.
[Break]
Cal first knew he wasn't dead when he felt an overwhelming pain surge through his still body. The dead don't feel pain, nor did they have a body to feel the pain through. Or at least Cal hoped not. The second sign that Cal was still among the living was the shrill scream that threatened to bust his eardrums. The gasp of agony and strain was not just heard, but felt through the Jedi's body. It became apparent that the unpracticed voice that produced this painful noise was his own.
The pain and gasp ended as soon as they began. His body became numb from exhaustion and help from the force calming his angry and vengeful nervous system. Maybe now he was dead?
Slowly forcing open his eyes assured him he was still alive, but man did he feel dead. His over sensitive eyes became blurry when assaulted by light. A blurred figure moved itself into Cal's vision. On an instinct long turned paranoid by the dangers of hostile Dathomir, the Jedi went to rise to defend himself. His body and nerves fought back, furious at the slight movement.
The overwhelming pain came back, hitting his body like a hammer to an anvil. The gasp of pain returned as well, now muffled and strained by his tired and dry throat, it was soon replaced by a childish whimper.
A warm hand pushed against his shoulder, gently forcing his body back down. Cal wanted to fight the gentle push, but as soon as his head touched the ground his vision went black.
The second time Cal woke the pain took it's time making itself known. When it did come, it didn't come as a burst of sudden agony like before. Instead it washed over his body like a slow wave. Starting at his head, it washed down over his chest reaching out to his arm, further down to his legs, and finally ending at his feet. The young Jedi found that he preferred the burst of suffering rather than the torturous wave.
Opening his eyes the room was dark, seemingly empty besides himself. Turning his head to the side brought a slight strained grown to grace his lips. A doorway, no door, with small beams of red light peaking through. 'Must be day time outside.'
Attempting to take inventory over his body's condition, Cal raised his head, his body fighting against him with all it had. Gritting his teeth, Cal finally got a long glance at his condition before he was forced to drop his head back down.
The first thing he had noticed was that his body was clean. Probably far cleaner than it had been in the past years. All the grim, dirt, and blood had been purged from his skin. Next his arm with the missing hand looked shorter, missing the blackened infected forearm. It must have been removed at the elbow and closed up properly. Lastly were the many new bruises that had sprouted across his body, all having lost their purple and black tone, looking more yellow like they had healed considerably. Most prominent was the new scar, still healing, that ran across his chest. Starting at his shoulder, it ran its way down almost reaching his hip bone.
'That bat really did a number on me.' He had somehow made it out alive, likely saved by the Nightsister that had been attacked by the giant bat monster.
A wave of exhaustion ended all thoughts on the fight and his current predicament. The darkness of pseudo-sleep taking Cal's consciousness once again.
[Break]
Over the next few days Cal came in and out of consciousness many times, never for more than a few minutes at a time, and always alone and with an aching and tired body. The pain was no longer an overwhelming sensation, it had been dulled a noticeable degree to a strong soreness.
Cal once again regained consciousness, this time with a clearer, more conscious mind. This time the room was lit, letting the injured man get a glance across the room. A room carved into the stone of the mountain. A few oil sconces line the walls, shedding a dull light across the reddish gray stone. He laid atop a stone slab covered in several layers of animal skin, in an attempt to cushion the sleeping space. The stone slab was flush against the wall opposite the door.
Kneeling down in the middle of the room, seemingly in meditation, was a humanoid figure. It took Cal's mind a few moments to register who the figure was. The Nightsister that he had tried saving from the giant bat creature. Cal had assumed he had been successful in the endeavor, but it was a great comfort to be correct.
The Nightsister seemed to be free of any injury, her body relaxed in meditation. Though she was undoubtedly the same Nightsister from all his previous encounters, she looked considerably different from Cal's memory of her. No doubt due to, in large part, her cowl being absent. With the cowl gone, her face was no longer partly obscured, and her hair was no longer hidden away. She looked younger without the hood, or more aptly, the hood made her look older. Upon their first encounter he had assumed she was much older, but now she looked to be his age, maybe a little older. To be honest he had expected her to have horns like the Nightbrothers. He would never have guessed silver hair. She looked more like a human than a zabrak, if Cal hadn't known that the Nightsisters and Nightbrothers were of the same species he would have thought them to be completely different alien races. Her face markings were also different in style compared to the tattoos of the crude Nightbrothers. While their tattoos screamed a false sense of intimidation and power, hers were more elegant. Giving off a sense of discernment and dignity. Her lips were black, whether natural or a kind of makeup he wasn't sure. The young man couldn't help but find her beautiful. Cal could lie to himself and say he only founder attractive due to not having encountered a member of the opposite sex sense long before the destroction of the Albedo Brave, but the Jedi knew that even if that had not been the case he would still find her bewitching.
Cal most have made some sort of sound, because the Nightsister's eyes opened. Green eyes met brown there gazes holding for an extended moment. Brown eyes? He had expected yellow like all the male Dathomirians. 'Just one more thing that made her seem less Zabrak and more human.'
Her words pierced the silent moment first. "You are up Jedi… good." Merrin spoke in her native Dathomirian language. The Jedi clearly failed to understand her, seemingly only comprehending the word 'Jedi.'
How had she forgotten he would not know Dathomirian. He had always spoken in the foreigner common language. The few times they had, aggressively, spoken to each other it had always been in the foreigner common language. She repeated herself, this time in his tongue. Still now response, his confused expression only shifting slightly to a more wide eyed expression.. She could've sworn she had heard him speak before. "Do you not speak?"
Cal hadn't had a real conversation with anyone in years. Only ever a few chosen words shouted at Nightbrothers or the Nightsister during their few encounters. The Nightsister just watched him, face stoic, giving away nothing.
Finally his voice came to him, "N-no, I can speak… Are you the one who stitched me up?" His voice, dry and scratchy.
"Yes. You are welcome Jedi." The end of her lip curled slightly, showing off a slight smirk.
"Why?"
"Would you have rather died? That is still an option if you wish." If it weren't for the smug look she was giving him he would have thought her serious, her voice at least sounded serious.
"N-no I'd…" Cal stuttered out, "I mean, you hated me before. Why save me now?"
"I could ask you a similar question, could I not?"
Why did he save her? They were enemies, she had attacked him every time they met before. Because he was a Jedi? Because he has no future on Dathomir? Because it's what his master would have wanted? Maybe all of these answers, maybe none, he wasn't sure really. Probably best to be honest. "I never hated you, but to be honest, I don't know why I did it. It just felt like I had to. What I needed to do at the moment. It was a feeling, voices in my head conflicting with each other on what to do. Does that make any sense?"
The Nightsister pondered his words for a few moments before seemingly coming to a conclusion. "Yes, I believe I understand. My answer to the same question is similar."
Silence takes the space between the two. Cal, unsure of what to say or ask. The Nightsister seemingly in thought, staring at the wall past the Jedi. After a few minutes her gaze dropped back down to the Jedi, her face stoic as she spoke. "For what reason is a Jedi on Dathomir?"
Where to begin? "I was stranded here when my Master and I were betrayed by our soldiers. Why they tried to kill use, I don't know. We were stationed in a Star Distro- a large space ship in this star system. The escape pod flew me here. Dathomir is the only habitable planet in the system. I don't know how long I have been stranded here. Has to be a few years at the very least."
"And your Master?"
"He didn't survive the betrayal. D-died before the pad hit the planet." Merrin could see the pain behind the words, clear as day. "Maybe you could tell me how long I've been here. There would have been a large explosion far into the sky. Almost like a second sun."
Merrin pondered this. 'The fire in the northern sky years ago? It would have to be. Had this Jedi been on Dathomir for such a long time, how old was he when he had been stranded?' ,"More than four years ago. In two moon cycles it will have been five years."
'Five years! I have been stranded on Dathomir for longer than I had been apprenticed under Master Tapal.' The knowledge that he was nineteen years old was a sobering thought. More than a quarter of his life was lost to Dathomir.
"Why are you the only Nightsister I have seen?" Cal most have asked the wrong question as the entire demeanor of the Nightsister shifted to that of silent fury. Even the oil sconces flames appeared to dim. He was sure he was seconds from being killed, or if he was lucky, yelled at. Instead he spoke in a calm, level tone. "Why did a Jedi kill all my sisters six years ago?"
The shock from the question paralyzed the young Jedi, his thoughts, actions, and expressions all frozen from action. 'A Jedi killed her sisters!? That couldn't be true. The Jedi would never wipe a people off the map. She's lying, she must be!' Cal's mind and pride yelled at him. 'But she has no reason to lie! It explains why she has been so hostile to me in the past.' His heart and logic screamed back. Cal's mind raced, connecting all the previous encounters and actions between himself and the Nightbrothers and Nightsister. Every Dathomirian insult, their knowledge of him being a Jedi, every plea for help rejected, the Nightsister calling him a liar and murderer during their two previous encounters. It all made too much sense. It wasn't only that, the force around them was confirming that she told no lies. She wasn't lying, a Jedi killed her people. His people slew a whole people, but for what reason? 'The reason does not matter. Nothing justifies genicide!'
Only one thought came to Cal upon the realization, one question. "If my people killed yours, then wh-'' He choked on his words, a lump taking its place in his throat. "Why save me?" His voice was barely above a whisper by this point.
She didn't answer him. With a flick of her hand, making Cal flinch, the lights in the room were snuffed out. The Nightsister left the dark room without a word. Leaving Cal to his own thoughts.
[Break]
The next time Merrin went to check on the Jedi he was up, and judging by the dark circles under his eyes he probably hadn't slept at all since their brief talk.
"You must sleep if you are to heal properly." She lit the lights with her magick, and crossed the room, closing the distance between them.
"I'm healing up fine. Thanks for saving my life. I forgot to say it last time." He gave a weak smile, though his eyes betrayed his current state of mind. A smile isn't a common facial expression found on Dathomir. Cocky smirks and murderous grins, yes. Genuine smiles, even if partially forced, no. At least not since the massacre.
"Is your missing arm bothering you? Does it hurt?"
His expression changes a little, shifting to contimplatment. His gaze shifts to said appendage. "No, not really. Probably the first time it hasn't hurt since I lost it."
"The infection had taken a hold within the lower arm. Tell me, how did you stop the infection from spreading past the elbow?" A question asked half out of pure curiosity, and half asked to see if she could learn more about his Jedi magicks, and to see if he would willingly offer up such secrets.
"I used the force and Meditation to keep the infection from spreading, and to dull the pain a bit."
"Jedi, what is this forc-"
"Cal" He interrupts her next question.
She doesn't respond, but instead gives him a questioning look.
"Cal Kestis, my name. You don't have to keep referring to me as 'Jedi'."
"Cal Kestis?" The Nightsister tests his name. Cal finds that he very much likes the sound of his name with her accent.
"What's your name?"
"You wish to know my name?" She looked unamused.
"Of course. Unless you'd rather I just call you 'Nightsister'." Cal joked.
"I would not object. After all that is what I am, a Nightsister." Cal must make a face when she says this, because, though she tries to muffle it, The young Jedi hears a slight giggle.
"If you really don't wa-"
"Merrin" She interrupts.
"What?"
The Nightsister's faint smirk returns. "You wished to know my name. Merrin."
After a slight pause Cal responds, sensarity clear in his voice and body language. "Thank you for saving my life, Nightsister Merrin." The large genuine smile Cal gives her brings a slight pain to the Nightsister's chest.
"Thank you, Jedi Cal Kestis, for saving me as well." Merrin returns his smile, though hers is a bit more reserved, though honest.
A calm silence follows. Cal relaxing his body as he rested, and Merrin resuming her check up of her patient. But soon enough Cal's curiosity, coupled with the want for dialogue broke the calm. "What was that creature that attacked you? It was massive."
"Gorgara, the queen of the mountain, or formar queen considering you dethroned her." She would have continued with her explanation, but the smug, playful face Cal Kestis was giving her made her pause. He clearly wanted to say something.
"Does that make me king of the mountain?" His joking tone was intoxicating to her.
"No, it makes me queen of the mountain. Dathomir would never allow a king" Her retort making him pout. Again the slight chest pain returns briefly. "Gorgara was an ancient and oversized Chirodactyl. Known in Dathomirian legend as 'the winged daemon of the canyon.' Much larger than the rest of her kind, she chased off or killed the rest of her kin long ago. To have not only killed the Alpha Nydak, but also the ancient Gorgara proves you are a warrior of great skill. You should take pride in your survival."
"Alpha Nydak?" Cal looked up at the Nightsister, "What's a Nydak?"
"The creature that took your arm." Merrin said matter of factly. She points at his nub.
"That's what they're called?" More of a statement rather than a question.
"Yes, the dominant predator on the mountain. Most Nightbrother hunting parties would struggle on fighting a single Nydak-" As she spoke Cal's mind began to wonder. Remembering how he had lost his arm and weapon fighting the Alpha Nydak. 'His weapon…' "-You slaying the creature is a feat that any Nightbrother would be envious of-" A memory was trying to fight past the haziness of his mind. 'Merrin had thrown me my master's lightsaber back when I was fighting Gorgara!' "-a Alpha Nydak only appears once in a gener-"
"Merrin!" He cut her off, setting up from his lying position, with difficulty. Merrin is at first startled by the Jedi's outburst, then settles and rushes to help Cal sit up in a comfortable position. "When we fought Gorgara, you threw me my lightsaber. What happened to it? I thought it was lost forever."
Merrin, instead of answering him, reaches a hand behind her. Hearing an audible clipping sound that he recognizes instantly, calms the frantic Cal. Her hand returns to view, revealing the missing weapon. At the sight of the weapon, Cal's nerves relaxed, and he was filled with a sense of joy and wholeness. "Where did you find it?"
"Nightbrothers found this along with your missing hand next to the slain Alpha Nydak. It is how we knew you had killed it. If you are curious, I had your hand mummified. Do you wish to see "it?"
The emotionless way of saying she mummified his hand, and asking if he wanted to see it brought a chuckle to dry lips. The Cal from before his stranding upon Dathomir would have been put off, disgusted by the very idea, but now it just amuses him. ""I'll pass, thank you. I don't think I'd enjoy viewing my mummified hand."
Merrin enjoys his laugh more than she should or would admit. Why he had laughed, she wasn't completely sure, but it still brought the faintest of smiles to her face. Seeing this injured man, who a few days ago had been knocking on death's door, so lively and happy made her forget the turmoil she felt with his being here.
Cal reaches out to take the weapon, wanting to hold it his hand once again. "Thanks for holding on to this for me, it's very-" Merrin yanks the weapon out of his reach. He looks up at her with confusion. Merrin's gaze shifts to a stoic glare. "Can I have my lightsaber back?"
"I am not foolish enough to give a Jedi his weapon. You may have saved my life, but your people and mine are still enemies. Your weapon will stay with me as a trophy." And with those cold words spoken, Cal's wholeness was shattered once more. Merrin's turmoil returned shortly there after.
She expects Cal Kestis to get angry, hostile even, but he doesn't. His outstretched hand returns to his side, his face grows sorrowful, broken. He can no longer will himself to look at her, instead choosing to stair at the wall ahead, a few tiers spring forth. Merrin's chest pain returns, no longer able to be ignored as it twisted itself into painful knots. She wants nothing more than to reach out and wipe his tears away. She wished she could return the weapon, but her sister's voices would never allow her to. The Nightsister becomes ever grateful that the Jedi chose to look at the wall rather than at her. Her stoic gaze would surely break under his green eyes.
"Please… I-It's all I have left. All that he left me." His mournful pleading voice is too much for the Nightsister. She relatches the weapon to her belt before leaving. She doesn't quite make it out of earshot before she hears the weeping.
[Break]
Over the next week the two spoke little outside of Merrin checking up on his improving condition and a few 'thank yous' here and there. By the end of the week Cal had recovered enough to get out of bed and walk around for short periods of time, against the Nightsisters wishes. Merrin always insists he mustn't strain his damaged body, but after some reasoning/pleading from the green eyed Jedi she relented to a small degree. Allowing him to traverse the small house, but forbidding him to traverse far from the structure without Merrin.
When Merrin goes off somewhere, Cal slowly begins to grow bored with little to do around the small, secluded structure. And a bored mind tends to wonder to areas of thought best left alone, Cal was very much aware of this. Deciding it best to go for a small walk rather than let his mind to its own cruel devices, the young Jedi sets out. He wouldn't be gone long, or stray too far from the house. Before setting out, Cal takes with him the Duskblade. Going out unarmed on Dathomir was way past the point of bravery and dipped deeply onto the side of stupidity.
Deciding it's probably best to head further up the peak rather than down it, the best way to avoid the wildlife of Dathomir, Cal takes to the path. It isn't long until he comes to a cliff side that overlooks the whole of the planetary scare below. Sitting near the edge, seemingly deep in meditation, was Merrin. Hanging a few meters above the Nightsister was one of the many pod-like structures made of animal skin that could be found strung up all across the mountain. A realization comes to the young Jedi. He hadn't just been walking in a random direction, but had subconsciously been following Merrin's presence in the force.
"Cal Kestis, are you not supposed to be resting right now?" Merrins voice startled him back to the present.
"I just went out to stretch my legs. Sorry for disturbing your meditation. I-I'll just head back."
Cal said sheepishly as he turned to leave the Nightsister to her meditation.
"Stay. Sit with me." He stops, turning back to her. She was no longer meditating, instead she had shifted closer to the edge, draping her legs over the edge as she sat, not even looking back at him as she spoke. "Watch the sunset with me."
With a slight grin, Cal silently approached the edge. Taking seat a few feet from Merrin, Cal took in the view of the Dathomirian sun that was quickly approaching the horizon. Unnoticed by Cal, Merrin instead chooses to watch the Jedi rather than the fast approaching sunset.
"Cal Kestis, may I ask you a question?"
"Shoot"
'An odd expression.' "Have you ever seen a sun that wasn't red? I have heard tales of planets with suns of other colors."
Not a question Cal was expecting, but a simple enough question to answer. "Dathomir is the first planet I have been on to have a red star. I lived most of my life on Coruscant, it's where the Jedi Temple is located. Coruscant has a white star, much smaller than Dathomir's red star. I've also been on the planet Ilum. Ilum has a white star as well."
"Coruscant? Ilum?"
"Oh, uh. Coruscant is the capital of the galactic republic. It's a ecumenopolis planet, a city planet. Hundreds of billions of people live there." Merrin almost felt like he was speaking a foreign language. 'Galactic Republic?' 'Ecumenopolis planet?' 'Hundreds of Billions of people on a singular planet?' Merrin hadn't thought that many people lived in the whole of the galaxy. 'Just how vast is this galaxy?' "Ilum is an ice planet, no one realy lives there, but the Jedi have a temple there for younglings to get their Kyber crystals."
An ice planet. Merrin had never seen ice before. She knew that ice could be found near the northern and southern reaches of Dathomir, but she had never seen this cold, solid water herself. She could hardly imagine a whole planet covered in the stuff. "Kyber crystals? Who are these Jedi younglings, and what are the purposes of these crystals?"
How to explain this? "Jedi younglings are children, young Jedi that have yet to be taken as an apprentice under a Jedi Master. A Kyber Crystal is a rare force attuned crystal. A youngling goes to Ilum to seek out their own crystal in the depths of the Ilum Jedi Temple. When a youngling is led to their Kyber by the force, the Jedi makes a connection to the crystal. The color of the crystal changes based on the Jedi. Blue and green are the most common colors, but other colors are possible, like yellow or purple. A Kyber crystal is used in the construction of a Jedi's lightsaber."
"And your color was blue?" Merrin remembers well the blue glow of his Jedi weapon, a lightsaber he calls it.
"No mine was green." She gives him a questioning look, but elects to keep her question to herself. "My lightsaber was lost when back on the Abedo Brave. The blue lightsaber I had been using was my masters." Cal really wanted to change the subject, not comfortable with it's direction. "What made you curious about other planets' suns?" A bit forced but it will do.
Realizing that she had gotten off the topic she had originally wanted to ask him about, Merrin paused, taking view of the starting of the sunset. "Ilyana, my closest sister, had always been curious about other star colors. I guess I learned some of this curiosity from her. Are there only red and white stars, or other colors as well?"
Cal has just successfully changed the subject. "Red, white, blue, yellow, orange, even some yellow stars can give off a slight greenish color. Red and orange stars tend to be the largest but coldest. White and blue stars are smaller but burn hotter."
Giving the joyful Jedi a brief glance as he spoke before returning to look at the sunset. She subconsciously ringed her hands together out of nervousness. Merrin wasn't nervous about asking her next question, or speaking to the Jedi. What she was nervous about was the potential answer she would get to her next question. Would it be a disappointing answer? Would he not know, not having paid attention to the sunsets on other planets. "On these planets with white stars, do the sunsets look different?"
Cal can sense that the question is more than simple interest, it meant something to Merrin. Probably involving this Ilyana she mentioned. "I never really thought about it, but yes they are. Less reds and oranges, and more blues, purples, with a few hints of red. At least on Coruscant. I never saw the sunset on Ilum."
The Nightsister seemed satisfied with this answer, a slight smile coming to her face. "Ilyana would be happy to have her question answered." She whispered under her breath. If it wern't for the complete silence of Dathomir's wilds, he would not have heard her.
"This Ilyana, who was she?" Cal was hesitant to ask the question, not wanting to anger Merrin, but he spoke the question before he could think about it any further.
Merrin's amber brown eyes met his emerald green. Her smile was gone, her face adopting it's stoic mask. "She was my favored sister, we grew up together. Though she was a martial sister and was a few years my senior we were very close." turning in her set, Merrin pointed to the animal skin pod above and a little behind them. "That is her burial pod. Where we both sit now is her cliff." She gestured to the area around them, before turning back to the view. "We were promised to each other. She always would watch the sunset with me, we loved each other." A pained smile grasped the Nightsisters face before her stoic mask returned to hide it away.
Cal now felt like an intruder, unwelcome in this spot that was obviously a very important and intimate place to Merrin. The rational part of his brain knew this feeling to be wrong. She had invited him to sit with her here to watch this sunset, but the feeling failed to leave him.
After a painful silence, Cal spoke up, "Merrin have you ever been on any planets besides Dathomir?"
The Nightsister shook her head slowly before answering, "No, the coven had few space faring vessels. They had all been destroyed or stolen when we had been attacked. Even if I wanted to leave I have neither the knowledge nor tools to do so."
"S-so there's no way for me to get home? I'll have to wander this planet until I rot away?" Merrin could tell this news distressed the Jedi deeply. Clearly he had hoped he could find a way off this planet of red.
"Wander? Do you not plan on staying here, Jedi?"
Cal is floored. "Stay here? But I thought…" Merrin doesn't speak, seemingly waiting for him to finish his thoughts. "I thought a Jedi wouldn't be welcome."
Cal had long come to believe the claims of the Nightsister, that her people had been killed by a Jedi, he couldn't see why she would lie, and every sense he had was telling him that what she said was true. A Jedi had killed her sisters, killed Ilyana. The very thought pained the young Jedi.
"M-my people hurt you, killed your people. Why would you welcome me?"
He wasn't given an answer. Instead Merrin just got up from her set and offered her hand to him. Taking it, Cal was pulled up to stand with difficulty due to his tender injuries.
Merrin gave the Jedi a pained smile, "The sunset is done, it is growing dark. Come Cal Kestis, we must hurry back." And with those words said she set off down the path, Cal following a few feet behind.
Notes:Next Chapter: Chapter 8-Year 5 Part 3-Challenger
I don't know about you guys but I had a crazy Christmas. Next Chapter is the longest yet!