Beyond - Legends Remember Yesterday (a Sisters of Dathomir vignette)

Foreword :

This vignette is a story that is now two years old, and it was the third story I ever posted on these boards. It was a long story, and one which I wanted to reweave once my English would have reached a better level, as well as my writing skills. And so, if you have been on Fan Fiction for a long time, you may have read a story quite similar to this one. Quite normal : I have based my work on what I had written, and edited that work rather extensively (a rough quarter of the material in this story has either been added or modified during the process).

I will add a fair warning : this is a long vignette (about 6,000 words), so be prepared for a long read

Enjoy !

- Arnaud

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The woman carved another notch on the wall of the cavern in which she had elected to live, greeting the newborn day in her usual and simple fashion.
[i]Almost two thousand marks...[/i] she mused. [i]I have spent more than five years of my life here in this grotto, and I will probably spend the rest of my life here.[/i] She sighed ; and then her expression became one of resolution. [i]No matter what happens, I will not join the Nightsisters again. And still, the Sisters cannot possibly come to trust me - not after all the pain I have caused them.[/i]

She sighed and looked at the crude calendar she had established, feeling a deep tide of loneliness flowing into her feelings.
To cope with this, she compared once more the numbers of the two different types of notches she had employed - simple lines for normal days, small crosses for the days when she had countered some Nightsisters. There had been more and more crosses of late. The last few days had been calm, though - a relief to the old witch, who did not only suffer from her age, but also had to contend with the wounds that had festered on her body over the course of the long years through which she had employed Dark magics. The Nightsisters paid a terrible toll for their powers, and returning to the Light did not release a witch from the burden her deeds had placed on her shoulders.
And from the scars earned as they used Dark magics, a form of trial existed for those Nightsisters who wished to forsake their old ways, a thankless trial they had to endure over great lengths of time, until the wounds inflicted eventually were able to heal - partially in some cases. The old witch knew she could have healed a few of the injuries she had inflicted herself. She had deliberately chosen not to : somehow, the vivid remembrance of her past mistakes comforted her in her present choices. The wounds were both a remainder of her Dark past and a safeguard against making the same mistakes as she had in the past.


The woman was about to leave her hideout when she felt a tugging at the back of her thoughts. [i]Someone approaching[/i] she analyzed. [i]Probably today's foes, alas. Another Nightsister I will have to mislead...[/i]
She sighed again, and began to chant an incantation with a soft, clear voice. A remnant of her former self and, strangely, a gift the Dark path had never taken away from her. Only her age was responsible for her voice rasping at times, and it never happened when she was casting.

She wove her detection spell... and cast another one immediately after that, to be sure that her perceptions were not troubled.
And the result remained the same.
[i]A Sister of Light ! It has been long since I have last felt one near these parts. They usually avoid the domains of Nightsisters...[/i]
She concentrated again on her inner senses, trying to learn more about the incoming Sister. She felt her "visitor" resist the spell, and she threw more power to back up her efforts. As a response, the other witch raised more power to form sturdy defenses.
[i]Well-l-l...[/i] and the old woman smiled, enjoying the contest of minds. [i]She is strong, but not a careful woman. She needs to learn to be ready to shift her focus whenever facing another witch in a contest of spellcraft.[/i]

She incanted another spell, her words slightly different from the former.

 

'We are never intent on turning evil in the beginning' the old woman interrupted. 'But we turn. And we do horrible deeds while under the influence of the Dark. And I can prove it simply.'

WOW! I really liked this! Quite intense and so much hidden in there. Very nice job. Excellent!

 

Thanks for the review, Kimberley, and thanks for reading through this

 

That was a long read but a very good read.

Great vignette!

~*Mariana*~

 

Quite a long read indeed Thanks, Mariana

 

I like how casually Reesa mentions that Alariel?s mother had killed her daughters. Shows how Reesa has come to terms with accepting her past misdeeds that she doesn?t offer that as a defence, she doesn?t say ?Of course I killed your mother and sister, they killed my daughters!? but instead this motivation only comes out that much later.

A good object lesson with showing that even a small use of Dark-side power causes physical wounds as well as spiritual.

Glad that Alariel was able to be persuaded against seeking vengeance.

 

JM, thanks for the review

Actually, the viewpoint I developed for Reesa was that if she had never turned to the Dark Side, the Sisters of Light would never have ended up killing her daughters.

 

Forgiveness does not truly benefit to the one who is forgiven - her deeds cannot change, only some results might be. Forgiveness benefits to the forgiver.

No truer words have been spoken. A very interesting and thought-provoking story.

 

Forgiveness does not truly benefit to the one who is forgiven - her deeds cannot change, only some results might be. Forgiveness benefits to the forgiver.

I'm with Leia Naberrie on this one. This is an incredibly life lesson that EVERYONE should learn. It's nice to see jewels like this turn up in fan fiction!

 

Wow Lordban, that's a beautiful little, or rather large, viggie! There's not a lot of stories that I've read that deal with the Dathomiri so this was a real treat! I really lvoe it!

:Targeter:

 

Leia Naberrie, thanks a lot When I first wrote Remember Yesterday, I wanted the story to deal with the consequences of one's actions, and in the end I wrote a vignette much longer than I had intended ; Remember Yesterday turned out to be a sort of lesson in philosophy, embellished by the Star Wars atmosphere.

Kimberley, I do like to write thought-provoking stories. I guess I went a step further with this one - like I said to Leia Naberrie, I dealt with a lot more issues than I intended. Actually, it grew because of the personalities of my characters - I wrote them dialoguing in a way I thought natural for them, and I sort of let them come to life.

Targeter, that was a large viggie indeed Thanks a lot

 

long but excellente

MJSLSBS