Beyond - Legends Dawn Over Endless Night (Z/OC, J/TK, J/J) UPDATE 2-5! Survey up!

High five for Celticness! I love it, and was wondering if anyone would catch the name!

 

Ok you guys, this is it! The last post! I have ver y mixed feelings about it; I'm glad its over, but sad, too! Anyways, you all have been the absolute best group of readers EVER! Thank you all so much for your comments and support!

*****

Part 46

Only rumors - but still -
Enough to give pause?
Under the surface
Behind the scenes
Something bad.
Something Bad, from Wicked

Anja resisted the urge it fidget nervously as she opened the door in front of her, and entered the large, cluttered office behind it. This was the part of bounties and assassinations she hated the most; reporting failures. It was not that failure stung her pride. Rather, Mreth Xiyar, the leader of the band of pirates she had joined up with, was the only man she had ever met who truly unnerved her.

He had joined the organization at roughly the same time she had, but a ferocious streak and a lust for power had allowed him to rise quickly within the loose ranks. He had murdered the former leader, and assumed control, making no attempts to hide his involvement with the crime. No one had dared to challenge him for control. Anja, who had no desire to become a leader, feared him for other reasons. The man was unpredictable and violent, and, she suspected, not quite sane. His fondness for alcohol and spice had only increased this, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to predict what his reaction would be to failure.

Pushing aside her nagging doubts, she entered the cabin that served as his office. Xiyar sat behind a bettered desk; he lowered his booted feet from where they rested on the surface as she entered. He was a big man, with a thick head of brown hair, and wild gray eyes. ?Report.? He said, sounding bored.

Anja placed the small holoprojection she carried on the desk, thumbing it on. It cycled slowly through pictures of the Jedi she had been hired to capture or kill for Ta?a Chume. ?The former Queen Mother of Hapes hired me to kill her granddaughter. I failed. End of report.? She stated tersely, resisted the urge to ask if she could leave.

The pirate looked as though he was about to dismiss her, then a strange expression came over his face. Following his gaze, Anja saw that the projector had reached an image of Deirdra. His hand darted out, slapping a button that paused it, leaving the pale woman?s picture floating between them. ?That woman, her name is Deirdra Meeker??

Anja blinked in surprise, wondering how he had known. ?Yes, I think so.?

?She?s a Jedi now, is she?? He asked, his voice oddly hard. She nodded, shivering at the look in his eyes. It was a chilling swirl of insanity, vengeance and utter hatred. ?Tell me everything you know about her. Now.?

Looking back on that moment years later, Anja often felt she would have given anything to change her response, to have said no, or feigned ignorance. It might have changed everything. Then again, she would reflect, it might have made matters unimaginably worse.

*****

(Now, before you wander off, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to get a quick survey and sequal info up tommorow of the next day, so stick around! )

 

Whoa. Mreth's interested in Deirdra? BAD PIRATE!! Bad!

Chilling end to a great fic, Lusa. And a survey and sequel info? Nice.

 

Give diedra a saber and leave her alone with those pirates and we'll have one hack of a fight sequence.

Yay for sequels!

 

Oooh... A cliffy... And we can expect a sequel when?

MAZEL TOV, LUSA! You finished it!

 

Some would call that an ending. I suppose it is an ending in the way that bait is at the end of a hook


Way to cliffhang!

 

Oh, yeah, Lusa, ?Report.? He said, sounding board.

Don't you mean bored???

 

great posts!

Tenel Ka and Jacen married??it's about time!

sequel soon? great!

 

Striker

Yup! But I bet you'll be suprised to learn why...

Valin_Halcyon

Give diedra a saber and leave her alone with those pirates and we'll have one hack of a fight sequence.

Ah, but Deirdra is against violence, remember?

VC

Thanks! I just had to leave you hanging! Sequal should be starting up in a few weeks! End of Feb, or early March, I think. As for my spelling, *hammers head against desk* On my last post, too! Oh, the shame!

Neo-Paladin

If you think this ending is bad, you guys are going to absolutly kill me at the end of Shadows!

Ylesly

Thanks! Yup, I figured they needed to hook up!

 

i think it's a little obvious why the pirate is interested...
he was involved in abusing her and still has some kind of sick attachment,
(ok fine, so my last prediction was wrong, your point was? lol)

T\R... DANG IT!!

(sigh) i guess it's a good enough story to make me read the sequal despite that... but Tahiri is and always will be Anakin's girl

 

I didn't say it was bad! I said it was a very well baited hook
I'm looking forward to what's to come

 

I've got lots of stuff for you guys tonight! Party!

Ok, first, a few tidbits about Shadows Cast By Noon to tide you over until I get it up!
* It's going to take place roughly 2 years after Dawn.
* Anja is going to play a very important part in it, but whether she is a hero or villian will depend on your point of view.
* I'm introducing a new OC, who I think you will find quite...amusing. Even if you don't, I can guarentee you will love her sidekick! (VC knows who it is. No telling!)
* It is going to have lots of angst, so be prepaired now!
* The title gives away a lot about it. (Metaphorically speaking, that is! )

Now for some fun with a survey!

1. Did you have a favorite part? Why?
2. How ?bout least favorite? Why?
3. Did I have any strenghts as an author?
4. How about weaknesses? (Be brutal brutal brutal! I want to improve here! )
5. Is there anything you would like to see happen in Shadows?
6. Did I forget to wrap any plot points?
7. Who was your favorite character(s)?
8. Your favorite pairing(s)?
9. How were my OC's (aka Deirdra)? Did I do ok with them?
10. Would you like a PM when Shadows goes up?
11. Do you have any stories you want people to check out? Plug away!

Now something I've wanted to do since day one; explain the title! I didn't do a very good job showing it in this story, but I have a thing for hidden meanings and metaphores, so I jammed the title with them! There are many sneaky layers of meaning to it!
* Number one is kind of obvious; Zekk and Deirdra are both providing a light in each others lives after a dark time. What you might not catch is that this also applies to Tahiri and Raynar, Jacen and Tenel Ka, and, to be even sneakier, to Zekk and Raynar. There's the fact that Zekk rescues Raynar, but I also really got the feeling in SbS that Zekk blamed himself for Raynar's capture, because he knew how dangerous Lomi and Welk were, but wasn't able to stop them. Raynar, in a way, brings him out of this when Zekk saves him and is no longer "guilty".
*Hidden meaning number two; verbal irony! (Which I just love! ) If night is endless, you can't have a dawn, silly!
*Number three; music! (come on, it's me!) I knew I wanted to include some sort of dawn/night metaphore, but I got the exact wording from the song Endless Night from the Broadway production of The Lion King! The exact lyrics are When will the dawning break/Oh endless night/Sleepless I dream of the day/When you were by my side/Guiding my path/Father, I can't find the way Now, aside from the father part, this is really kind of the feel I was going for at the begining, though it changed later! So I used it!
* Number four; my favorite, and masterpiece of stealthyness! Virtually every scene in this entire fic, (and every single majorly important one) takes place either at dawn, or at night! I challange you to go back and look if you don't believe me!

Last bit, then I'm done, but I'm having fun and wanted to include this; rejected ideas and fun facts!
* The entire origional purpose of this fic was for Zekk to save Raynar and patch things up with Jaina, because these were the only two loose ends at the end of NJO that bothered me. Origionally it was going to be almost all Zekk and Raynar running around and having adventures.
* I had absolutly no intention of hooking Zekk up with anyone, much less and OC, amazingly enough. But then I realised that it would be really hard to write him all alone up to the point where he finds Raynar, because it would be boring! So I figured I'd give him a copilot/sidekick. I planned on using Tahiri and even considered making it Z/T, but then changed my mind and stuck her with Raynar. I still needed a sidekick, so I decided to give him an apprentice.
* Deirdra was originally very different. (Very very very!) She had red hair and green eyes, but then I realised that this is a very common description in the EU and decided to go out of my way to make her different looking. Her backstory was actually much angstier than it is

 

Interesting that you got the name from that song... I love that song!

 

I antagonized over wether I should fill this out for awhile. 11 questions is a lot after all but I can try to help a fellow Zekk fan out

1. Did you have a favorite part? Why?
Hard to say, I'll go with Deirdra getting her voice back. Good dynamic action as well as emotional connection.

2. How ?bout least favorite? Why?
I guess I was hoping for more from Zekk when he was trying to convince Deirdra to use a lightsaber. As cool as her demonstration in passive resistance was, the importance of the Lightsaber to a Jedi (in symbolism and action) should have made him more insistent on her training.

3. Did I have any strengths as an author?
You make a fun to read fic.

4. How about weaknesses? (Be brutal brutal brutal! I want to improve here! )
I found my self, at times, wishing there was more emotional depth from the characters displayed. I suppose that means you write the characters well because I want more from them.

5. Is there anything you would like to see happen in Shadows?
Good characters having adventures.

6. Did I forget to wrap any plot points?
This is a common one, and hard to avoid. Where did Ta?a Chume get the ysalamir from? How did she know about the buggers? Zahn invented the fuzzy things as a ready made plot device to make highly powered heroes more mortal, but seeing them supplied Deus Ex Machina always feels like a shortcut to me.

7. Who was your favorite character(s)?
Zekk

8. Your favorite pairing(s)?
Zekk and Deirdra

9. How were my OC's (aka Deirdra)? Did I do ok with them?
They were unique, but fit into the GFFA, and evoked the Mythology that Star Wars taps into very well.

10. Would you like a PM when Shadows goes up?
I'll keep my eyes open, thanks.

11. Do you have any stories you want people to check out? Plug away!
Well, I have 5 fics in my bio. I rather enjoyed writing them. I'd enjoy knowing that others are reading them and either enjoying them or suggesting how to improve them...

 

1. My favorite part had to be the early parts where Deirdra had no voice. It was rather unique to have a mute character in a fic.

2. Can't really think of any.

3. Got into character's heads well, and good action.

4. Can't help you there. I see my own faults so glaringly, it blinds the faults of great authors like yourself.

5. Deirdra punches Jaina's lights out.

6. I agree with Neo-Paladin. Ta'a Chume getting the ysalamiri and knowing of their powers.

7. Tenel Ka(natch), Zekk, ghost-Lusa.

8. Z/D. J/TK.

9. You did good with Deirdra.

10. Yes. PM me.

11. Hoo boy...Three New Sailor Senshi. It's a crossover between Sailor Moon and YJK. I have never received a negative review of it. It's my baby. It's almost 260,000 words long.

And Where Ne Jedi Has Gone Before. It's the rarest of fics-a crossover between Star Wars and Star Trek that's not really, really bad.

 

1.) I liked Dathomir, you did the scenery nicely.
2.)Ummmm.... none?
3.)You really captured my attention.
4.)Maybe a space fight, that would be nice.
5.)Valin Horn!
6.)Not that I could think of.
7.)Zekk.
8.)Z/D
9.)You did awsome! Diedra was so realistic...
10.)YESYESYESYESYES!
11.)Just one: Shadows of the Unknown 9see sig for link). Oh, and anything by Jesina_Dreis is worth checking out!

 

Awe man i missed the ending. I feel liek a total idiot but i'll do the survey cuz i got some stuff i wanted to mention since about the mid part anyway.

1. Did you have a favorite part? Why? Deirdra getting her voice back. And waking up in Zekks arms. Thats always a good thing to have in a story. I quite liked it.

2. How ?bout least favorite? Why? I actually kinda thought after they got to Hapes it was getting a little slow. So anything after they got back wasn't wonderful. i liked the wedding alright tho.

3. Did I have any strenghts as an author? You are quite good at making it romantic but not over the top

4. How about weaknesses? (Be brutal brutal brutal! I want to improve here! ) I honestly think you need to make your fics shorter. I liked it until they got to Hapes. It slowed down and it seemed like you even though i know you put time into your posts you were getting lax. It was slow towards that part and you would've done better to end it quickly. The ending i didn't quite get.

5. Is there anything you would like to see happen in Shadows? Yes, Tahiri/Raynar stuff and more mush with Deirdra and Zekk. I love them together. I have lost all hope for him and Jaina so its nice to have someone for the poor guy to love.
6. Did I forget to wrap any plot points? Hmm? what do you mean by that?
7. Who was your favorite character(s)?
8. Your favorite pairing(s)? Der, Zekk/Deirdra i so hate Jag. Kill him pretty pwease!? I may write a NJO book just to be able to kill the guy. ug, captain cardboard get some personality fast!

9. How were my OC's (aka Deirdra)? Did I do ok with them? Very good, wish she was in the EU.

10. Would you like a PM when Shadows goes up? YEAH!!!!

11. Do you have any stories you want people to check out? Plug away! Um, go read my poem "Love Falling" its long dead but i always could use a good review. Look out for new stories if i ever finish them. Most likely they'd be totally OC or Mara/Luke. I never seem to finsih anything i start. its a miracle i get anything done so don't expect it. But maybe, if i'm lucky, i'll get my inspiration back. see ya laterz lusa! can't wait for shadow. speed up your action and get more romance. thats one of your good points. ~gabbers

 

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Thank you
~Rose~

 

lol.... sigh... I love your story... I'm so happy for you that you could finish it...

you see I have a sith of a time finishing stories... I was very proud of myself for finishing the first in my three part... lol

congrats and GREAT STORY!!!!

 

Aww, thanks so much! Congrats on finishing up your fic, by the way! I'll havta go check it out!