Before the Saga Drabbles, one shots, and other miscellaneous stories

Since I mostly write one shots I figured it would be best to keep them all in one thread.


#1 HUNTED:



1547 years before the end of the Republic


Something was haunting the people of Raavikaar. Something dark. Something old. Something evil. Who else would be able to defeat such an entity but a Jedi Knight and their Padawan?

Raavikaar was a colony at the edge of the Outer Rim, at the furthest reaches of the Republic. It was much like any other world, save for the Dark Thing. After centuries of being settled a legend spread throughout Raavikaar, telling of a beast that fed on fear and anger. The Dark Thing wandered, leaving death in its wake. Its arrival would be heralded by a terrible storm, an otherworldly fog, and a feeling of unshakable coldness.

When the shuttle landed, Shtarg Mehraxen could feel the presence of the Dark Side immediately. As could her master, Har Lokken.

"You're ready for this, apprentice." Master Lokken put his hand on Shtarg's shoulder, which was level with the top of his head.

"I know." Shtarg put a hand on the hilt of her lightsaber for reassurance.

She felt out of place here, and everywhere else for that matter. A nearly two meter tall girl with fire red hair stood out even among the diverse assortment of beings that filled the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Shtarg felt that not even her name fit her. What kind of name is Shtarg anyways? She had been asking herself that question for years.

The city of Cabran was blanketed by a thick fog, and despite being early in the evening there was almost no activity. When the Dark Thing was rumored to be nearby people stuck to the comforts of their homes. The buildings were situated in a valley between two massive white stone buttes, with a small dirty river separating the two sides of the settlement. Blue needled coniferous trees and yellow grasses filled the spaces between the simple, boxy buildings.

Master Lokken and Padawan Mehraxen made their way to a cantina. Lokken figured it would be as good a place as any to start asking around. It was surprisingly bright inside, and the heat was almost stifling. There were a few patrons scattered about, and they stared and whispered amongst themselves when the Jedi entered. Shtarg could sense and overwhelming amount of fear among the locals. Several bodies had already been found.

Master Lokken took a deep breath and then walked up to a group of men who were huddled around a table.

"Took them long enough to send you, Jedi." One of the men said.

"I came as soon as I learned of what is happening here. Without the council's approval." Master Lokken had never been a very traditional Jedi.

Instead of the homespun brown robes that most wore, he and his Padawan wore clothes more like those of spacers. Lokken wore a sleek black tunic, which matched his pants and boots. The dark red cape made him look rather regal. Shtarg wore a gray jacket, brown pants, and a dark green plastwool cloak. The only things that immediately identified them as Jedi were the lightsabers hanging from their belts.


"I saw it! I saw the dark thing!" An old Rodian with cybernetic eyes blurted out.

"What did it look like?" Shtarg asked.

"It was like a human but not. Tall with long thin limbs, pale as fog. The eyes... Brightest blue I've ever seen." The old Rodian took a drink.

The Jedi asked around a bit more, and got several different answers about what the Dark Thing looked like and where it was.

"Could there be more than one thing?" Shtarg asked her master as they made their way to the next place the locals would gather.

"My senses point to a single source of the darkness, could be a shapeshifter or a master of illusions." As always, Master Lokken trusted his feelings.

After a month of searching, they were no closer to finding the monster. The Dark Thing seemed to always be a step ahead. Several times the Jedi had come across the grim signs of its work. Though the victims had been murdered many different ways, the overwhelming presence of the Dark Side connected them.

Shtarg felt useless. Her senses weren't as close to as finely tuned as her master's. Since she was sixteen, her trials would be within the next few years, but she felt no more prepared for them than when she had started her training. The more mystical elements of the Force seemed perpetually out of reach. She seemed to be good at healing though. Shtarg thought perhaps she should just resign herself to a career aboard a medical station.

But the possibility of failure, of letting down Master Lokken after he had gone through so much trouble to take her in as his Padawan, scared Shtarg. She knew Jedi weren't supposed to be scared, but she couldn't help it. She was still human.

More months passed and the Jedi started getting messages urging them to return to Coruscant and leave it to the local authorities. But Master Lokken couldn't leave. Not while the Dark Thing was still out there.

One day they wandered the top of one of the buttes that looked over the small city. The Jedi wandered through the blue trees, following a current in the Force. Shtarg turned, and her master was gone. The forest had gone silent except for the wind blowing through the trees. She tried to reach out with the Force, but Lokken was either too far away or dead. There was no answer on the comlink either. The Dark Thing was near, she could feel it.

Shtarg was alone, and she was being hunted.

She ran. As fast and far as she could, but the Dark Thing followed. Always out of sight, but Shtarg could feel it. She stumbled across the remains of a mining camp, and entered one of the run down buildings. She barred the door behind her. Night fell, but the Padawan could not sleep.

"Help me..."

Shtarg thought she heard her master's voice.

"It's going to kill me... Please help..." There was a loud scratching noise on the door.

It almost sounded like him, but something was off. She reached out with the Force, but she didn't sense Master Lokken. What she did sense was a vortex of anger in a river of fear, rushing down a mountain of darkness. The Dark Thing was there.

Shtarg climbed through a window, and once again she ran. She ran through the dark forest, and almost right off a cliff. She stopped right at the edge, and turned to the treeline.

The Dark Thing was there. It was over two meters tall, with skin like marble and skeletal limbs. Its face looked almost human, and its electric blue eyes felt like they were burning through her.

"You failed me... You failed." The Dark Thing's mouth moved, but Master Lokken's voice came out.

"No, go away!" Shtarg shouted as she backed away, towards the edge of the cliff.

"You will die, child." The Dark Thing spoke in its own voice, a deep and gravelly voice that dripped with malice.


Shtarg was now on the edge of the cliff, so she did the only thing she could. She jumped.

Down below there was a raging river, and Shtarg struggled to stay afloat after she hit the water. The powerful current threw her around, like a sabercat playing with its prey. Eventually it let up, and Shtarg made it to the shore. She crawled under a rock outcropping, and curled up and began to sob.

What else could she do? Her master was dead, she was lost on a strange world, and she was being hunted. She tried to ignite her lightsaber, but the blade flared out and died. The crystal had cracked.

For three more days, the Dark Thing pursued her relentlessly. Shtarg had hardly slept, and she had eaten all her emergency rations. She was exhausted, terrified, and angry. Shtarg was at the edge of accepting the Dark Side, to lash out at the creature.

But she walked into a cave, and followed it until it opened up into a massive cavern. Fang like stalactites hung from the ceiling. A flat topped rock stood in the middle of the chamber, lit by a shaft of sunlight. Shtarg climbed onto it, kneeled and tried to meditate.

She received a vision. In the vision there were two paths, one leading further into the cave, and another out into the light. She chose the path towards the light. The Dark Thing tried to drag her back into darkness, but she pushed onwards. The creature melted away, and she was free.

When she opened her eyes, Shtarg saw a glowing green crystal embedded in the rock she was kneeling on. It was a kyber crystal. The walls of the cavern also glittered with the blue and green crystals. Once more she opened herself to the Force, and her lightsaber levitated and separated into its components. The broken blue crystal fell, and the green one took its place. The lightsaber reassembled, and Shtarg gripped the long hilt with both hands.

The emerald green blade blazed to life with a low hum. Shtarg knew she was no longer a Padawan. She was now a Jedi, and she had nothing to fear. For she was one with the Force, and the Force was with her.

She was done running and hiding. The Dark Thing could come to her, Shtarg knew facing it would be the last step of her trial. She stood fearless, and waited. Her tattered cloak flew back as a gust of cold wind entered the cavern.

The Dark Thing had arrived.

"Tell me your name, child, so I may remember my favorite prey." It said, almost in a whisper.

"I am Shtarg Mehraxen, and I am a Jedi." She held the lightsaber vertically in front of her face.

"Your Master was as well, and that did not save him child." The Dark Thing produced a silver cylinder from under its black cloak. Shtarg recognized it as Master Lokken's lightsaber, but the blade glowed blood red. "Tell me why you no longer flee, have you embraced death?"

"I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me."

The duel was short and fierce. Shtarg stayed on the defensive until the Dark Thing made a mistake. Shtarg lunged and her blade skidded across the crown of its skull. It fell with a scream, and Shtarg left the cave.

She let the Force flow through her, to break the rock that held up the cave. The cavern collapsed, and Shtarg walked away. She was a Jedi Knight now. She cut off her Padawan braid and let it float down a small stream.

 

#2, So Much Green:


As the Millennium Falcon slipped beneath the thick clouds that covered Yavin IV, Luke's jaw dropped.

"What is it kid? See a ghost or something?" Han looked over at him and raised an eyebrow.

"No, its just... I've never seen so much green. I didn't know there was this much in the whole Galaxy." Luke continued staring out the cockpit, taking it all in.

"This is nothing, you should see Kashyyyk. Right Chewie?" Han adjusted the controls to prepare for landing.

Chewie rumbled in agreement.

Leia wanted to say 'or Alderaan', but she couldn't. It was just too soon, so she stayed silent.

 

#1 Oooh how riveting and courageous. #2 - very poignant and in character reactions.

 

Thanks

Its good to know I got the characters right in #2, I usually avoid writing established characters.

 

Good writing. The last shows Leia is still hurting.

 

#2 was quite good.

Yep, you definitely got the characters.

I will check out #1 another time.

Suggest though, making clearer if a new post is a standalone story, or a continuation. Just because you do one-shots, doesn't mean you'll always put it up in a single post.

 

Thanks for the suggestion I will make sure to do that.