Beyond - Legends Stars - a series of introspective-y viggies, post EoV: Conquest Update 7/06: Sannah

I?ve had this story lying around since - I think right about after I finished Star by Star. It struck me that they never showed what happened after Anakin and Tahiri were taken aboard the Errant Venture? then I looked back and saw the scene at the very end of the book. But I was halfway finished by that time. Just recently, I?ve gone back and corrected, and revised, and corrected, and revised? and now I?m about halfway satisfied with it. *sigh* The only thing I haven?t done is get another person to go through it and correct it, the only person who reads a little of what I write is new to SW and is an anti-spoilist. If that?s right? *wonders*

I?m clicking the post button now, before I lose my will. Constructive cristicism is a wonderful thing. Don?t be afraid to say I?ve got 5 pages of nothing if I really do - just please tell me how to fix it.

* * *

Tahiri screamed as she hit the wall of her living cage in frustration, fear, and anger. Always conscious of Mezhan Kwaad?s unnerving gaze on her, she repeated her silent mantra. I am a Jedi? I am Tahiri? It kept her sane.

She clung to herself - her personality, her identity? all she had left, now. Soon, she would not even be in control of her own body, but she would not give in without a fight. A Jedi? I am Tahiri? She watched the shapers talking about her, their headdresses twitching, all the while knowing that if she succumbed she would willingly be crawling back into the dark abyss, the prison that was her mind. There, all that existed was herself, darkness, and fear so tangible she could almost smell it. Tahiri? It horrified her that such a place was the only place where the two shapers would not hurt her ? she was safe there in that frightening peace, and every fiber of her being longed to return even while she so desperately fought against it.

Praying to the Force that she still could, she reached for her bond to Anakin. Very faintly, she could still feel him, somewhere near to her. He felt her too, she could tell, and he anxiously grabbed at the brief moment of contact before it faded inevitably into nothingness. It was cut off almost immediately when Tahiri felt her body convulse and go into a seizure as she was forced into the darkness? No! I am a Jedi! TAHIRI!

Despair, hopelessness, and agony more than she had ever imagined came over her, and she lost herself as all faded to black night?

* * *

Gasping, Tahiri forced herself to wake up, mercifully finding herself in her quarters on the Errant Venture. Not the shapers damutek? She sat up and sighed, her hand immediately and unconsciously reaching up to her forehead, the marks of Riina?s domain. They had begun to heal and scab over, and they itched. She involuntarily shuddered. Space was cold. There was a blanket throw folded at the base of her bed, and she clambered out and pulled it tightly around her, willing it to grow warm.

The light of distant stars caught her eye. Tahiri smiled a bittersweet smile, walking over to her transparisteel viewport. So many stars, she thought, gazing out at their ethereal beauty. She sighed again when she found Yavin shining softly, as it always had. Yavin? she distantly remembered a place: familiar, warm and humid, full of water and life, the smell of crushed blueleaf diffusing through the air? the memory was replaced by recent, vivid, disturbing images ? a glance at the crushed Massassi temple, the lambent fields, the shapers? damuteks?

Tahiri shivered again, pulling the blanket even more tightly around her shoulders. ?Yes, so many stars,? she murmured. ?So many people.? How many systems would be taken before the end of the war? How many people? How many lives? Billions? Trillions? She reached up and scratched her would-be scars, willing the tickling sensation to go away. Will there even be an end? She rubbed harder. It hurt, and even felt good in a way that felt natural, but didn?t really understand. She didn?t stop until she felt something wet on her hand. She brought it down, and

 

I like this. It's actually really good. Keep going.

~*Whisper*~

 

that was really nice, Jedi-Tahiri-Veila Great job describing Tahiri's psychological torment, and I really liked the part where the scars were bleeding. Also enjoyed the little humor injected

?Yeah, well?. I?m sure Jacen?d be horrified to hear that.?



He looked down, faintly surprised to see her stains on it, but he shrugged. ?I can find other shirts. It was Corran?s, if it makes you feel any better.?



The end kind of reminded me of what Gandolf said in Return of the King Great post!!!

 

I'm so glad you posted this JTV - it's excellent. You have a very nice writing style, and I especially like the way you've made this fit in so well to the events in Conquest. The beginning really grabbed my attention.

I also liked the mood you created with its slightly chilling undercurrent of things to come. That was really well done. The interaction etween A and T was lovely - and, like Yoda, I loved the touches of their typical humour.

I'd love it if you'd write something for the A and T scrapbook. Would you?

 

Wow...this is a really good story! The writing is excellant, please keep posting!

 

Keep this up Jedi-Tahiri-Veila! Really good interaction. I loved it.

 

great post, love a/t stuff, can;t wait to see where this goes, keep up the great work

 

The tone was just right, considering it took place right after Conquest. Very nice.

 

Wow!

- The Imperial Ewok

 

Jedi_Whispers - My first reviewer ever - Thank you muchly, but this is only a one-post viggie type story. Just a fill-in between books.

YodaKenobi - [face_shocked] You're posting on my thread?

Tahiri's psycological problems were part of what I kept trying to get right, so your comment is very much appreciated.

I'm not remembering the part you are talking about in RotK, but something just popped up vaugely in the back of my mind. It's been much too long since I've seen it. *makes mental note to go see RotK over the weekend*

Tahi - What are you and YodaKenobi, two such prestigous authors such as yourselves, doing here?

Chilling undercurrent... I like that. Thanks for all your loverly comments.

Me? I'd be honored to write something for the scrapbook.

Connemara - Thanks for the comments, especially about the style. This year I've been working hard to define it, and I never knew what to make of it.

TahiriVeilaSolo69 - Thanks muchly, but I'm going to keep this a nice, short viggie. Well, average sized viggie, I guess... I'm no expert.

forceaddict - *grins* Another who loves A/T. Thanks for commenting, but... yes, I still think I'm not going to continue it. There's just nowhere for it to go, really..... unless it covered all the time between Conquest and Rebirth...

No. Thou shalt not move me.

JediAlly - Thanks.

I think I need to work on markup codes and faces. Argh. This is taking longer than it should.

Thrawn_McEwok - *blushes* I never expected a wow, and especially not a Wow. I feel so special.

Very inventive screenname, btw. *grins*



Thank you, all of you, for commenting. You all made my day a little better.

 

That was excellent Jedi-Tahiri-Veila! you really captured the emotions between Anakin and Tahiri, as well as her torment over her ordeal! more of the same next time you write, please!

 

Don't worry, this was amazing!!

You do have a few sentences that just didn't seem to flow IMHO, but they were few and far between!

It felt like canon!!

This flowed so beautifully, and showed a lot of maturity.

Keep going, either with this or another story!

~Marsa

 

what do u mean there is no where for it to go, there is always someplace to take such a wonderful story

 

[face_shocked] You don't plan on continuing.....my goodness. *Solo clutchs her heart and walks away mumbling*

 

Wow... that's great, and if this was meant to be a vignette then keep it a vignette, I've made the mistake of making a vignette into a long story, totally messed it up, especially since I had only read up to DTR and the story took place after DW. And it's really quite remarkable. I like how they each think of different things when they look the stars. Maybe you could add on to it with other characters.

 

Morgoth_The_Enemy - Thank you muchly. I tried... it's nice to know what others thought of my - umm... trials. *raises eyebrow* That's not right... *looks in thesaurus*

Next time I write, yes? How do you know there will be a next time?

Marsa - Thanks for reviewing! I expected a few sentences that were wrong. Actually, more than a few, but maybe that was because I knew where the touble spots were, and I went over them so many times.

*blushes* Thank you. Maturity? Hmm...

I liked your No One Is Alone, btw. Now you've got me into Into the Woods as well.

Dev_Binks - A vignette it shall stay, I believe, unless an idea hits me.

*blinks* Now there's an idea... Never thought of that... I'll have to think on it, though.

TahiriVeilaSolo69 - Not with Anakin and Tahiri, anyway.

forceaddict - You're just trying to make me blush again, aren't you?

 

How do I know there will be a next time Jedi-Tahiri-Veila? Well, I'm a dark god and therefore can see the future...however, the future does possibly contain me and a number of your other readers begging you for a new story...

 

Yaaay!!!!!! you liked my fic!!

oh! and a convert too? Yippee!

~M

 

Wow! That was really awesome!

 

Lol, Morgoth! Fair point. I bow to your darkness.

I wrote a bit last night, actually, and I'm going to try to post later today once I have it typed and cleaned up.

Marsa - A convert indeed. I'm trying to get my hands on a recording of it, now, but I'll have to wait for Tuesday.

Jaina_and_Jag - Thanks.

 

I wrote this part last night, after being struck by inspiration from Dev_Binks, and it's a little weird. I don't know if it will even make sense. But please, tell me what you think.

* * *

Soft starlight was and had always been a part of her landscape. It was one of the things she could count on, seeing the stars gently shine on her when she looked out her viewport, and she was used to it.

But starlight offered no peace to Jaina Solo tonight.

She couldn?t even ignore it. The stars seemed to force themselves at her, making her recognize and acknowledge their grandeur, their majesty, their blazing energy. They spoke to her in voices she couldn?t define, of things she didn?t want to hear or think about, softly, softly, lulling her into a disturbed sleep. But the same voices always woke her up again, growing louder when she failed to answer.

Jaina woke from her half-sleep, feeling uneasy, even slightly sick. The first thing she saw was the starlight, tinged an abnormal, frightening yellow instead of their normal soft white. It poured in from her viewport in abundance, spilling in and in, filling the room, sloshing up and over the sides of the room until it threatened to drown her in it.

She closed her eyes against it, willing it to go away, for the voices to stop, but it remained.

They swirled around her, growing louder, then softer, in an eerie, music-like way. A crescendo, a diminuindo... first here, then there... phantomish and intangible. The unnatural starlight was smothering her, and she felt panicked ? she had to get away from it. She grabbed a robe from her bedside and rushed out of the room into the outside corridor of the Errant Venture, and all was suddenly quiet.

She breathed in the blessed darkness, and the sudden silence rang in her ears. Slowly, she relaxed against the door she didn't remember closing, and she began to return to normal: her heart calmed itself, the static-like urgency in the air dispersed away into nothing, and her mind stopped whirling. She became aware of the cool, smooth floor pressing against her feet, and the cooler air widely circulating around her. She breathed in deeply, and it was all she knew for a few moments.

Suddenly, her head snapped up and her body tensed into combat position out of reflex, her hand reaching for the lightsaber that wasn?t there. Jaina forced herself to relax ? this was the Errant Venture, and there were no enemies aboard. The war isn?t here, isn?t now.

But wasn?t it, with the Academy children safely hidden here?

Jaina shook off her thoughts, and curiosity made her look to see who approached. She forced her body to relax when she saw who it was. Little brother? she wondered. He seemed to be immersed in his own thoughts as he crept past her silently, and didn?t notice his sister standing by the door to her room. He made the last few steps to his room and entered, pressing the door release behind him. She wondered? she reached out in the Force to confirm her suspicions.

Yes - in her room, Tahiri slept silently. Jaina smiled. Her demons were gone for one night, at least.

But Jaina couldn?t help but wonder: Will they ever truly be gone? Or would they merely lie dormant in their silence and darkness? How was silence and darkness such a blessing to her tonight, but such a curse for Tahiri?

No, she knew at night, when Tahiri was alone, they would cease their watch and come out. Something inside Jaina twisted.

Slowly everyone she knew was being taken away from her; everyone she loved was being twisted or turned into someone she didn?t recognize or know. Chewie was first, then her father. When his best friend was taken from him, her father had turned into a bitter and angry wanderer, forsaking everything he had gained in his life. In turn, this had made her little brother, just fifteen, more aggressive, more sorrowful. He carried burdens that weren?t his, some that weren?t even real; always trying to prove himself to the galaxy when he was really trying to prove himself to the father Jaina

 

No, it's great, you get into her mind set perfectly. Especially since this would be the time period right before SBS.

 

Another Excellent post Jedi-Tahiri-Veila! more of the same please! upping this so others can read!

 

not really strange, that was another great post

 

That was wonderful!!

It was sad, but I don't think it was strange. Please write more!

I have to tell you, sometimes drama can be aweful and depressing!! But the way you write it is interesting and realistic.

UP!! ~M