Beyond - Legends Your Eyes Aren't Blue Anymore -- Dark Luke, Mara -- sequel teaser up 5/23

That was awesome!

I just loved the way you juxtaposed Luke and Mara's dancing with the Rebel planning. Can't wait to see what happens between Luke and Leia as well as how Luke reacts to the attack.

 

*Stands in awe of excellent post*

The back and forth between Luke and Mara, and then the Rebels was just amazing . . .

KT

 

Han's anger was set in stark contrast to Luke and Mara's dance. It showed that Luke still has some good in him, despite the fact that he is of the dark side. I must applaud this. It truly shows that in war there is innocence in some form on both sides. This post has given me more theories. Hmmm....

And I agree with 2B. Mara had to know that this was going to happen.

 

Oooo, good post. Winter is ticked! Luke better watch out, Han's TICKED.

 

WHOOPS

I knew Han would come for her, I knew it....

He better at least get a romantic reunion with Leia, even if you plan on killing them off

I hope you don't kill Han and Leia...

BUT HE'S COMING

Huzzah

 

Mirax_Corran: But where's Hobbie?

Hobbie, yes, Hobbie?. There was a reason I left him out, but I can?t remember what it was now. Probably not a good reason. Um? maybe we should just say he was ? on holiday?

So Han is going to try and save Leia.

Leia being captured was the last straw for the Rebels. Time to act?

JadeLotus: Poor Han, he's lost that Solo spark.

Never!

Glad you liked the split scene technique. It was more difficult than I thought it would be to write, so I?m glad it worked in the end.

The_Pariah: Thank you!

lurker2209: Thank you!

So sad that there are so few posts left in this!

Well, there will probably be a sequel if it?s any consolation?

DarthIshtar: Thanks! Glad you liked it.

RebelPrincess: I loved how you kept switching between the dance of Luke and Mara and the "dance" of war - looks like Han and the New Alliance are setting things into motion.

Thank you. I thought it might be a little hard to follow, so I?m glad everyone seems to like it. And I like that line you picked out as well. Thanks for reading!

Jedi_Anais: *blinks* White picket fences? Well, I can definitely say that?s not a possibility at the moment. Ah, angst, isn't it great?

RedGold: Thank you!

AG88: I so want a happy ending for my Farmboy, but I doubt that I am going to get it.

Well, you never know. It all depends on your definition of ?happy?, I suppose...

Jedi2B: This post definitely seems to have flushed out the lurkers?

I'm as much a Luke-lover as anyone, and I hate admitting this, but I see the best ending for Luke as being his dying. He is torn up inside by the pain of his darkness. Release from that would be a blessing of sorts -- in the arms of his beloved Mara, of course, who is the only thread of light that he has to cling to.

Hmm?. Interesting theory.

My theory is that Mara knows (or highly suspects) that the Alliance's attack is imminent. She spent years with the Rebels, and they've been planning this attack for years.

It does seem likely? and of course, she knows Han and knows what he would do to get his wife back.

It seemed that her asking Luke to dance was a way for them to have one last instance of being together, of forgetting for a few moments all the horrors that have happened, of remembering the few good times they'd had together.

It almost seemed as though she were trying to tell him something?

Anxiously awaiting the ending posts.

Great to have you reading.

Jedi_BMK: Thank you! Yes, there are some interesting events ahead.

Killik_Twilight: *blushes* Thank you!

StarFighter5: Han's anger was set in stark contrast to Luke and Mara's dance. It showed that Luke still has some good in him, despite the fact that he is of the dark side. I must applaud this. It truly shows that in war there is innocence in some form on both sides.

Mara?s tears are in contrast with Han?s words, certainly. Perhaps evil isn?t as absolute as Han and the others think it is? But how absolute is it?

This post has given me more theories.

Ah, theories?

FelsGoddess: I think Luke has a lot of people ticked. Being an evil tyrant can have that effect, unfortunately? Thanks for reading!

SoloEvenstar: Yup, Han?s coming? Will he be in time??

I hope you don't kill Han and Leia...

Would I do that? Thanks for reading!

 

Shoot! I missed a post....I had to go, first to my own prom and then to my boyfriend's prom...I never want to see a strobe light again!

But, I'm back and I love the chapter. The alliteration between Luke and Mara's dancing and the shifting of events leading to the rebel attack. Very good. I can't wait until the next chapter.

 

post post post poooost way hey hey goodbye.

 

*is on page three and catching up and will give you a whole long post full of quotes and things and squeefulness eventually, but for now you'll just have to settle for ... *

OMG, I LOVE YOU.

*skitters off to bed*

 

LOL, Elli. I should have guessed that'd be your reaction.

Still reading avidly, K_A. Just give me a wee bit to thwack DRL into submission, and I'll write some real feedback, too . . .

 

Stargazer19: Hope you had fun at the respective proms. Thanks for the feedback, glad you enjoyed the post.

mister chief: *blinks* Erm... thank you?

vader_incarnate: *blinks again* My dark!Luke looks positively friendly next to yours in "Dying by Degrees"... *still in shock* Thank you, anyway. I'll look forward to your feedback.

Gabri_Jade: Oh, another one with an IOU... Thank you for reading! I'll look forward to hearing your feedback as well.

 

Told you I'd be back.

Other times, he slumped in the gloom of his offices, hands clutching his head, trying to squeeze away the blinding pain. His staff knew his moods; they stayed well clear. He?s in a killing temper, they whispered between themselves when they thought he couldn?t hear.

Blood and lust and fire swirled beneath his eyelids, the ghosts of murdered children driving icy fingers deep into his brain. His body hummed with need, need to hurt to kill to despoil to dominate, anything to ease the agony, to lose his pain in the blood of others.

But he stayed where he was, head in his hands. Drowning.

Eventually the pain would subside or be sated, and the loathing and the disgust would fade, and he would be able meet his own eyes in the mirror once more and not flinch in revulsion. The pain would be there still ? it was always there ? but he would be beyond it.

He would subvert himself to the mindless dark and it would wash the horrors away as it always had, and always did. Until the next time.

That is possibly the most incredible depiction of what it might be like to be a Sith that I've ever read. Absolutely amazing.

She looked at him a moment, then said, ?I was a Rebel.? She lifted her hands from his shoulders, bringing her wrists together before his face as though bound by invisible manacles. She lowered them to chin-level and added, ?Will you kill me ? Emperor??

The sardonic light in her eyes was at once a dare and a memory, sharp with the ambrosia of days somehow starker and brighter than the days he knew now. He met her gaze, met the challenge, and said levelly, ?You were never a Rebel.?

She lowered her chin, her eyes darkening, glinting, never leaving his. Still holding her wrists together, she caught his dishevelled tunic between her fingers, pulling him closer. Tilting her head, she whispered tauntingly, ?So sure??

One of my very, very favorite passages in the story so far. I can see every detail, and wow, did you ever get Mara's personality right here. Well, you got her right throughout the entire story, but this moment in particular just sparkles. It's so her.

As far as the dance/planning chapter, I feel as though to take any of it out of its context would be to do it an injustice. It flows together beautifully. Luke and Mara's dance, in particular, was almost frighteningly vivid and easy to visualize, and the switches between the two scenarios was handled flawlessly. Overall, your writing maintains the high level of elegant lyricism that I've come to expect, while never sacrificing plot or characterization for the sake of description. The whole story is beautifully balanced and a joy to read. Even if you kill 'em all at the end I can't wait to read it, because I have complete faith that you'll do it marvelously.

 

Gabri_Jade: You make me blush. I don't know what to say, other than thank you!

---

Okay, I've given up trying to come up with chapter titles. I have no idea how to sum this one up... so here it is. [face_wink]


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The days passed with trudging slowness to Leia. She bore them with calm dignity; let Vespasian not see her pain. No. She wouldn?t give him the pleasure.

Implacable guards with heavy blaster rifles brought her food, not speaking, barely looking at her. To her she was something less than human, not worth compassion, not worth dignity nor mercy nor even regard. Jade had been her only visitor in what felt like months, and Leia had done all she could to purge that meeting from her mind.

Vespasian, she had not seen since that hazy day she?d broken and given him the location of the base where he would find his reticent lover. It was as though Leia had ceased to exist once he?d taken what he wanted. Leia was relieved.

That changed, three days before the execution date.

Leia woke to find the cell in near-darkness, all the lights save one extinguished, and that sole remaining one dimmed very low. To Leia?s eyes, opened after sleep and months of relentless illumination, the gloom seemed of blacker than space. She took fright, sitting up on the hard cot, her heart racing. It took a moment to realise where she was, and another to realise that the lights were dimmed. She took a breath, her heartbeat returning to normal. It was then that she noticed Vespasian.

He leaned against the wall opposite her, still and silent and virtually invisible in the shadows. Only his eyes revealed him, gleaming golden amidst the gloom.

Leia?s heart silently quickened again as coldness weaved through her stomach, a medley of fear and loathing and disgust. Vespasian felt her gaze, she knew; he stirred in the shadow, the reflected light in his yellow eyes shifting, intensifying.

?What you doing?? Leia said. Her voice was raspier than she would have liked, rusty with sleep and disuse.

Vespasian stepped forward. As the faint light fell over him, Leia saw that his face was a deathly white, his eyes red-rimmed and bloodshot. His gaze was fixed on her. She suddenly thought of a wolf she?d seen in her childhood, somewhere in the snowy mountains on Alderaan. The wary, shivering intensity of its gaze as it stalked from beneath shadowed trees was eerily similar to that of Vespasian?s amber eyes.

Leia drew back as the Sith neared. ?What do you want?? she said again.

He didn?t answer. Leia didn?t like that. His taunting, sneering words had goaded her, made her angry, but she recognised dimly that they were a shield for him, holding back something she didn?t want to contemplate. Now he wasn?t bothering to toy with her.

That didn?t bode well.

He stood over her now, his face oddly taut, abstracted. She read the glistening edge in his eyes, and the dread in her stomach coiled itself tighter.

His fingers curled in, opened.

She stared at him, every muscle tense.

When he moved, it was swiftly, his hand darting for her, his knee on the cot. She jerked back, twisting, hands flung defensively. There was a brief scuffle, then he was over her, his fingers biting into her arms, and her back was pressed against the wall. His chest heaving, he stared at her, his eyes a seething medley of hunger and hate and anguish and loathing, such dripping, tormented loathing?

He leaned in. She felt the heat from his body as he pressed close, strange and blazing, as though he were feverish, as though he were burning alive even as he loomed over her.

?Princess,? he whispered, his breath brushing her cheek. ?Princess?? And to her astonishment, it sounded like a plea. Like he was begging her. But ? for what?

Leia?s eyes met his. A sense of coldness washed through her, a reflected glimmer of welling blood and screaming voices and thick blackness, of misery and loathing deep beyond measure, beyond thought or understanding or compare.

Its intensity took her b

 

Ominous is an understatement... Wow, what an intense post... three more days until Leia's dead huh? Is that a promise that we get a post within 3 days .

CK

 

Wow, that was a great postie! I can't wait for the next one.

I don't want it to end! It's soooooooo good? How about a sequel?

Can't wait for the last post,
~Myra

 

Intensely creepy, but very well done.

Now, I'm left wondering just what the final post has in store for us. I will do my best to wait patiently, but a post soon would be greatly appreciated nonetheless.

 

You end it with that? My cliffhanger armor has cracked, maybe permanently. I may not survive until the next post.

Real feedback once I've absorbed the post - assuming I survive that long, of course.

 

Oh, wow, that had my gut twisting...

 

This fascinates me. you manage to say so little and make it so emotionally deep. I mean, at this point, I'm not really sure what Luke was doing in Leia's cell, if he knows she's his sister, and what exactly Mara managed to do, but there's an intensity to all of this that is really effective in telling the story. I can't wait for the end. and I'm so glad there's a sequal. I suppose that means that not everyone dies...

~Lurker

 

Just when I thought things couldn't get any darker...


A sense of coldness washed through her, a reflected glimmer of welling blood and screaming voices and thick blackness, of misery and loathing deep beyond measure, beyond thought or understanding or compare.

Its intensity took her breath away; its acuteness brought tears to her eyes. She stared at Vespasian. He stared at her.


Yeah...wow. The tension and angst of this chapter was amazing. I even feel sorry for Luke - he's so tormented. I suppose that on some subconscious level - he knows about Leia?

Can't wait to see how this fic is going to end - but you are writing that companion fic from Mara's pov, right? Right? [-o|


Just one confusing point for me...Leia thinks it is two days till her execution, Luke thinks it's three? Or am I just being nitpicky?

In either case, I'm waiting anxiously for the conclusion.

 

No, that's just what happens when you add an extra section as an afterthought and forget to check the facts are in line. Thanks for pointing that out, JadeLotus, I've fixed it now.

 

You manage to pack so much intensity into a single scene. I'm going back and forth about what Mara whispered to Luke. And only one more post?

I'm wondering, too, about the two days/three days inconsistency.

 

Wow! That was extremely creepy. The last chapter is going to be very interesting.

But I wanted to ask, what does Vespasian mean or symbolize...if it's painfully obvious forgive me, My head cold is making me more dense then usual.

Great Post. Can't wait to read the next one.

 

Please forgive me, I'm sick right now and can't really form a coherent sentence (although I guess I just did)

I will say more when feeling better.

 

Wow. That was...intense. You're going to finish already? Can we at least get a sequel? Assuming someone lives, of course.


No white picket fences? Does that mean there's going to be a reconciliation?