Two close friends...two very different journeys.
Max and Ruby consider themselves sisters they have so much in common. Then they get separated when they enter an entirely different world. Ruby becomes a noble fighter, both a jedi and a warrior of the black tulip, while Max becomes a jedi of the shadows, never good, but never evil. A war is coming and they need to decide who there fighting for. Whether it's together or against each other.
Thoughts
"Telepathic communications"
a/n
Chapter 1 The Strange Void
"Take out your homework class." Mr. Nameno said as he stepped towards the door to the classroom. "I'll only be a minute so sit here quietly until I get back." As soon as he walked out whisper started then rose to talking as everyone realized that he was gone for good.
"Hey Maxine did you actually do your homework this time?" A girl with long blonde asked turning to her friend.
Maxine smiled guiltily, and shook her head no. She had light brown hair that was cut just above her shoulders. "First of all call me Max. It's not my fault my parents were suckers for girlie names, and you started my nickname so you of all people should use it. Anyways, you know how boring I find type of work that involves school. It's my one weakness. Any way how was your weekend Ruby?"
"Fine. Did you see that Supernatural episode? The one where Sam was possessed by that demon?"
"Of course!" Max narrowed her eyes in mock anger. "I'll kill that asshole! No one hurts my Sammy!"
Ruby laughed, "You are so obsessed."
"I know." She quickly scribbled something into her note book. "Should I be more worried about politics or religion issues today?"
"Which one did you do last time?" Ruby asked, her eyes glazing over as she tried to remember. "I think we went with the sappiest one. Why not try the politics today?"
"But there's no action in politics!" Eclipse whined as she continued to write. "I need something a little more exciting."
"Max," Ruby began, then paused for a second. "You're right; history has been boring for the past few weeks. ("Try months." Max added.) We really need to get out of class."
"You mean like skip?" Max's eyes widened in surprise. "You really want to do something that dangerous?"
"Why is that so shocking? I need some adventure, some danger." Ruby smiled, her excitement infecting Max, who smiled.
"Well, I'm positive no one will miss us, but we'd better pretend to go to the bathroom to escape. I can't afford to get caught skipping. My mother will kill me."
"Ok it's settled then. We'll meet in front of the old stairwell. You give the signal." Ruby turned to back to the front as Mr. Nameno came back into the classroom.
"Ok class; please pass your homework up to the front." He said, fixing the glasses. "Today's lesson is on the history of the political system of Madagascar."
Max rolled her eyes and crumpled the paper she held in her hand. As Mr. Nameno turned to the blackboard she slid it across the table to Ruby. Then glared evilly at a boy who had had watched the exchanged and had raised his hand to tell. He let it fall to his side and swallowed nervously, turning back to the front and ignoring them.
Ruby opened the note:
Great plan! Follow my lead. 3 min.s after I go follow.
Ruby nodded slightly so that Max could see it. Then she carefully stuffed the note in her backpack and waited for Max to go.
"Mr. Nameno?" She called a few seconds later. He turned and nodded for her to proceed. "May I please go the restroom?"
"Sure, But hurry back. Today's lesson is very educational."
And not to mention boring!Max silently added as she got up and walked out the door. Mr. Nameno had failed to notice that she had her backpack in one hand. Step one complete. She thought as she put her backpack in her locker. Good luck Ruby.
o)o(o
Ruby had waited until about three minutes and thirty second had passed, just to make sure that Mr. Nameno wouldn't remember that Max had left. (He's got a really bad memory.) She had then grabbed her backpack and been excused for the bathroom. Now she stood at the entrance to the old stairwell her backpack already stored in her locker. She glanced around and looked for Max. Where could she be? She thought. Did she get caught? Am I going to get caught? Did she rat me out?
"For gosh sakes Ruby!" Max said as she came down the hall. "Do worry so much! Your face looked so panicked for a second. You should know sisters don't rat each other out!"
"But we're not related." Ruby pointed out the flaw in her friend's argument. "And how could you know what I was thinking."
"Were close enough." Max smiled and turned to push open the old door to the stairwell. "And you wear your emotion on your sleeve."
"What?" Ruby asked, confused by her friend's choice of words.
"Your face is easy to read. Come on. Let's go see if there really is a knife stuck in the wall at the top."
Ruby sighed and helped her friend push the heavy door open. Together they stepped out into...nothingness.
o)o(o
"Madam?" A hesitant young fellow approached her, his eyes down cast. "We've got two coming in..." He trailed off, waiting for instructions.
"Why should I care if two more come in?" She asked, being a little harsher than needed. "Sorry Cherub." She told him, ruffling his red (and I mean red) hair. "I've haven't gotten much sleep due to the 1036 case."
"That's ok Mistress Merry." He answered. His face full of the joy at her apology. "I think I may have an answer to that. That's why I came."
Merry looked down at him and smiled. "Good job! I'll take it over from here." She told him talking the file out of his hands. "You can have the rest of the day off."
"Oh, no thank you mam. I like to stay and work in case I'm wrong." He answered, beaming from the praise she had given him as he left the room.
"Wow, he sure is dedicated to helping me." She noted to a cat that stood on a self, out of site of any one who entered.
"Why don't you preview the file miss. I may actually be helpful." It told her. Its voice was a higher pitched masculine voice that sounded almost teacher like.
"Fine, I guess it wouldn't do any harm." She opened the folder and gasped. "Binx (the name of the snobby teacher cat) this is strange." She put the packets of paper on the table.
"Maxine (called Max) and Ruby, her friend, are from zone 13789. They entered through portal 713." He read, and his mouth turned down at the edges as he frowned. "The both have the potential to be in zone 10360, and may make a difference to case 1036." He paused and his flicked to her face and back, "This is not normal. Especially not this next bit."
"You mean: Max has the markings normally found in a Darkling." She looked towards the ceiling, trying to recall something.
"What?" Binx asked, still reading the file.
"If she's not light, how'd she wind up with Ruby?" Ruby's got a hundred percent clear on the Light."
"I don't know why, but I do know she can't come here. Her heart's to dark." His eyes filled with pain. "We're going to have to separate them."
"They won't like it." She answered. "But if we want to save zone 10360, it's our only hope."
o)o(o
"Max?" Ruby called as she opened her eyes. "Where are we?"
"Timespace." A voice answered, though it was not Max's. "I'm Merry, the ruler here."
"Where's Max?" Ruby asked looking around for her friend. The lady before her didn't answer. Instead she twirled her orange hair around her finger.
"She's not here." She finally answered, a bright orange cat coming out of the room behind her. "She's not exactly welcome."
"Where is she?" Ruby shouted her voice both fearful and angry.
"Not here." A snobby masculine voice answered. "She's a Darkling and there not allowed in this sacred hall."
"What?" Ruby asked and sat back down, her head spinning. "D-d-did that cat just speak?"
"You seemed surprised." It noted, coming to sit on the table next to her. "I'm not 'that cat' though. My name is Binx."
"Ok..."She trailed off, her head starting to hurt a little. Binx was rambling on, talking about something to do with some dude. Was it Couk? Luke? Yeah that had to be it. She thought her headache worsening into a throbbing pain. She gasped as it grew into a fiery pain.
"It's him. He's trying to find her." Binx told Merry as she looked at Ruby in concern.
"Why is he searching for her? How could he possible know she exists?" Her face slowly fell as she seemed to get something. "She's turned hasn't she?"
"I'm afraid so. We knew this could happen, though I didn't expect it so soon."
"What are you two talking about?" Ruby asked, her headache gone as quickly as it had come. "What's happened?"
"It's..." Merry hesitated, glancing at Binx before looking away from Ruby.
"Max is dead." Binx said his tail flicking as he looked at Merry. "She's turned. The friend she used to have is dead. Or maybe I should say that the real Max has awakened."
Ruby took not notice of what he said due to the fact that he was speaking telepathically with Merry, as well as the fact that she had fainted from exhaustion.
"I'll take her to 10360. There I'll explain what happened and what she will be doing for the next few years." Binx said, his shape becoming more blurry, then shifting. Now he stood about as big as half a horse. Merry picked up Ruby and slung her across his back. "See ya later." He said as he bounded down the hall towards the wall at the end. Right as he was about to crash into it, he vanished. Leaving no trace as to where he had gone.
o)o(o
Max kept her eyes open as she floated in the semi-darkness. She saw Ruby floating not to far away from her, with her eyes closed. "Ruby?!" She called, checking if Ruby was conscious. "Ruby you awake?"
Ruby didn't answer. As Max opened her mouth to try again, a light sudden flashed, blinding her. "Ruby?!" She called, blinking rapidly to try and clear her eyes. After a minute she was finally able to see and looked frantically around for Ruby. "Ruby!" She shouted, knowing that her friend was no longer in the dark with her.
She silently wept for her friend, though she shed no tears. I always thought I'd end up alone again. She thought bitterly, her mind taking her back to another time and place momentarily. As she snapped out of it she felt the air around her change. It grew cooler and was filled with dark emotions like anger and hate. Max turned her head, looking for the source of it but saw nothing but the semi-darkness. Suddenly her ankle burned with pain that would have made others cry out, but Max didn't. Her face was as smooth as stone, her storm blue eyes hard and cold. She saw the darkness fold over her, just before she fell into unconsciousness.
o)o(o
Ruby was first aware of her shoulder throbbing, a steady pace that matched her heart beat. Her arms and legs felt like lead as she slowly tried to move them. She opened her eyes slowly, afraid that if there was a bright light she would become blind. There was no light. Instead she was looking at a dark sky, with a bazillion stars.
"I see your awake now." A familiar voice commented. Ruby turned to see if it was Max, but instead she saw the cat Binx. "Are you able to move?" He asked, his orange fur seeming to glow.
She nodded, not sure if she could talk and slowly sat up. She looked around and saw trees in a circle around a clearing, which is where she was sitting. The tree where miles high, and cast extremely large shadows even in the limited light.
"The Tulip clearing." Binx told her, noticing how calm she seemed. "Now listen closely." She focused her attention on him. "This is an entirely new universe to you. It's parallel to your own." He paused to see if she understood. Since she asked no questions he continued. "You walked through a portal from your world and entered that black place which is called the timeless zone. From there Merry brought you to her zone which is known as the Merris Zone. (It's named after her brother.) Then I brought you here. Zone 10360."
"So I'm in a parallel universe to Max's and mine. What am I doing here?" She asked, ignoring the chastising look he threw at her.
"I was just about to tell you before you interrupted." He sat up straighter (if it's possible for a cat to do that) "You are here because you have two qualities we need to help fix this place. Right now it's covered in Darkness and you may be able to help stop that." She nodded for him to go on. "There was a prophecy made so long ago. It told of a coming of two warriors. One would be able to use something called the force, another hidden magic. You have the tendency of that other magic."
"Wait a minute. You're saying I can use some sort of magic, like abbra kaddabra?" She laughed at him.
"No. Not that silly magic from your world. Magic from this world. It deals with something, and I believe you now what it is." He said and saw recognition in her eyes.
"A black tulip." She said her voice no louder than the gentlest breeze.
"Correct. You seem to know enough now. You master awaits you down that path." He pointed with his paw, before he started to walk away. He turned to look at her over his shoulder. "Don't always listen to your dreams!" He called back. "And don't trust your old friend Max if she appears in them. She's dead. It's most likely a trick from the dark." And with that he bounded for the trees and vanished in a brief flash of light.
Ruby slowly stood up and walked down the path to meet her new teacher. Her mind reeling from the last words that Binx had said. Max can't be dead. She thoughtshe's too strong just to have died. But I do trust Binx, I know I can, though I'm not sure why. Maybe my new master can explain more. She shifted her gait into a jog and headed quicker down the path, leaving her thoughts behind.
o)o(o
Max slowly felt the pressure in her head begin to lessen, which told her two things:
1) She had been unconscious for some time
2) She should be able to hear any second.
Max slowly counted to five and listened, and just as she thought, she could now hear again.
"She was found lying on the moon." Some one said, their voice having a strange metal sound to it. It was followed by a short quick sound that sounded like a machine that she had once heard in a hospital. She couldn't remember what it was called but did remember that in it was used by people who couldn't breathe on their own. It made that sound when some one breathed.
"Why would you bring her here then?" A raspier voice spoke up. It sounded ancient and sent shivers down Max's spine. "Why don't you just dispose of her?"
"Because she is force sensitive, rather strongly too, my master." The metallic voice spoke up again.
"Are you sure? I don't feel anything."
"Yes." The metallic voice said again, and despite how empty it was of emotion Max could still tell how certain it was. Slowly she sat up and opened her eyes. As she looked around she easily could identify where the voices were coming from, just down the hall from the room she was in.
I wonder what they mean by force. She thought, slowly getting off the ledge that she had laid on. And where's Ruby? Is she here? She crept to the door and swiftly made her way down the short hall.
"I think you see some of Padme in her." The raspy voice spoke up, his tone filled with a little anger.
"No, not her." The metallic voice answered him, the pain relevant to Max.
"Who then?" The raspy voice asked. There was silence for a few seconds. "Ah I see. Why does she remind you of him?"
The metallic voice didn't answer. This made Max curious. "Who do I remind you of?" She asked, stepping out of her hiding spot. Making the two figures in the room jump. One of them was dressed all in black, but that wasn't what she immediately noticed about him. On his head he had a black helmet/mask thing. She was sure this was the guy with the metallic voice.
Max turned her focus to the other person in the room. He wore a cloak that should have cast his face in shadow, but the lighting wasn't right so she could see his face closely. It looked ancient with all the wrinkles and his eyes were an odd yellow color that made her shiver from the lack of warmth in them.
She would have noticed the evil way he smiled had she not been watching the masked figure reach into his cloak and pull out a metal tube. From the tube, a red glowing blade extended with a hissing sound.
"Who are you guys?" Max asked, warily watching the masked guy.
"The really question is who are you and how did you get here?" The old guy spoke, confirming that the raspy voice belonged to him.
"My name is Maxine," She wrinkled her nose in distaste at her full name, "but I prefer to be called Max. As for how I got here I'm not sure. I don't even know where I am." She thought for a minute and looked warily at the lightsaber, (for some reason she knew what is was called even though she had never seen one before.) She added, "I'm not even sure when I am."
"If you are unable to answer my second question then I'm afraid that you can't remain alive, Max." The old guy said and nodded to the masked guy, as Max took a threatening step towards him, her anger spiking at the mockery in his voice. "Kill her."
Max watched as the masked guy swung his light saber towards her head, knowing that if it connected it would cleave through her. She prepared to dodge, hoping that she wouldn't get hit.
o)o(o
Ruby tried to focus on where she was going, but it was hard. She kept losing track of her surroundings every time her thoughts turned to how strange this place was. How strange she was. Right now I should be freaking out, or at least be thinking that's this is a dream, but no such luck. Instead I'm as calm as can be, I'm not even worried that Max is dead. She stopped, surprised that she now believed it was true. It seemed odd, but she couldn't believe that she had ever thought that Max was so strong that she could evade death. It didn't make sense even. Max wasn't that strong. She had figured out that much on her journey down the path so far. She was just very careful to be guarded against anything that could of hurt her. She had that special ability to separate herself from her emotions. And I know that's really unhealthy.
She stopped as she neared the end of the path. Ahead of her was a cottage built out of strange stones, each one with different hue. Surrounding it on almost all sides were trees that helped shield it from the air. In front of it sttod a tall figure. Black Tulip. The name came into her thoughts with out prompting. My master.
o)o(o
Max threw herself to the left, rolling to distance herself further. Better be careful.She thought, barely having enough time to finish her thought before she had to dodge the next blow. "Jerk." She muttered as he swung and she dodged agian. She ran and jumped over a lowe table she hadn't noticed before. Great now I have to worry about not falling on my face too!She felt her anger and sense of hopelessness threaten to overwhelm her. "Dammit not now." She muttered, feeling a burst of pain on her arm. She ran from the masked guy again, towards the opposite end of the room, by the small table. Once there she started to check out her arm and found a burn where the lightsaber had nicked her. She felt the pain start to overwhalm her. Her vision got blurry and her body began to shake. "I said not now." She practically shouted, causing the masked man to stop momentarily. After a minute he proceed forward, his lightsaber raised for the killing blow this time.
"Good." The old guy purred, causing Max's anger to resurfaced. Frantically grabbing for a weapon near her she shouted, "Shut up you old fool!" Her hand finally grabbed something cylindrical, swinging it up she activated a lightsaber of her own. It glowed a dark navy color which flickered to black for a moment before returning to the dark blue.
She blocked the masked guy's attack and stood up, using the new engery that flowed into her limbs. She smiled evily, looking like a snarling wolf. "Don't think I can't weild this." With that she launched into a series of complicated moves that slowly pushed back him back.
"Stop." The masked guy said. Max paused, her sword held in it's still ready position. "Master, must we destroy such talent. I was looking for an apprentice of my own, and you could use two that are force sensitive.'
The old guy nodded thoughtfully. "You are right." He mused, "But if she turns out like him she won't join our side. He wouldn't."
"Who are you talking about? And what do you mean join?" Max cut in, her voice harsh yet hopeful.
"Would you serve me and my apprentice here?" The old man asked. "We could teach you to use your powers to thier fullest extent. You also would get your own position in the Empire."
Max thought before answering. Of course this is the evil side, yet I can tell that this isn't a trick. She mused. Ruby's elsewhere here, at least I know that... Of course I don't now how I know that. Ah what the heck, I join. Enough bad things have happened to me so far. Maybe if I stop fighting the flow of evil in my way things'll get easier.
"Well?" The old guy imatiently asked.
"Yes." Max answered, ignoringg the tremor she felt in the air as she said that. Times away Binx felt the tremor himself and knew she'd turned. Ruby also felt it accompanied by two other people.. A boy named Luke who was on Tatooini and a boy on the planet of Endor, just below the large circular ship Max now sat in. It was called the death star and it now had another dangerous force on it to be feared.