Into the Light of Darkness

Prologue

It was completely dark. Rare for a planet nestled deep in a binary system. The cold winds normally would have been a blessing, if not for the stinging silicon dust and dirt that were being carried with it. Ventra bared down hard with labored groans and muffled screams that were barely escaping through her clenched mouth. At times she wondered which was going to break first; her will to bring this baby into this arid desert planet, or her teeth. The salty sweat dripping from her forehead which, at first, was irritating her eyes and creeping into her mouth; now only caked onto her face, lathered in dirt and grime. The elder mid-wife at her feet coaching her through for what must have been hours. Keeping her focused and guiding her through to the inevitable end. That end being a beginning for another. A beginning to a life of dirt, blood, sweat and tears – a life of servitude for the Hutts.

What am I doing… what have I done…?

Ventra asks herself over and over. Birthing an innocent child onto this cursed desert rock at the edge of nowhere. With only one surety; to gift this child her mirrored life of misery and death. The world that took this baby's father before he ever had the chance to know him. Before he could know of his sacrifices, his strengths and his love.

Why is it so quiet... calm, even?

The moment of realization hits her like a stun-rod - "I'm not pushing." Her body is now relaxing and the pain is beginning to drift away. Her eyes begin to drift as well, they drift until she is staring at the mid-wife who, in-turn, meets her gaze. And for the first time since meeting this old slave of a mid-wife, one which had been tasked to help Ventra in this time of need, Ventra notices her… smiling. In her arms she cradles something.

Ventra now tastes the salty water in her mouth again - "Sweating still." She thinks at first, but then suddenly Ventra's voice escapes her and she comes to realize that her body knows something before her mind has had the opportunity to process. Ventra is weeping now, as the old mid-wife begins to hand over the baby gently. Ventra's hands are already prepared, reaching out invitingly, to take her child and press it to her chest and never letting go. Ventra lightly wraps the baby into her arms and looks into his eyes.

They're HIS eyes… my… husband's eyes.

Ventra now knew what she was doing, what she had done. She could not kill the only piece of him that remained, the only thing that could carry on his name. Even though he was gone and "Become One with the Force" (as he would always put it). A part of him now lives on in this child, his boy.

"Dray'ven."

Ventra whispers this boy's name. His father's son, with his father's eyes.

"His father's name...", she says to the mid-wife.

Ventra looks into those beautiful brown eyes and sees the familiar hints of green and silverlight. My husband's eyes - she could not push this recurring thought from her mind. While falling deeper into Dray'ven's eyes she became overcome with a deep sense of... Hope.

Ventra slept more soundly that night than ever before, at least as far as should could remember. The cool breeze slowed, no longer carrying with it the stinging sand. Just the rare cool air not often felt on the hot surface of Tatooine. Ventra slept with her baby boy nestled up to her side…

Standing alone in an oasis while looking up into the skies. Ventra quickly realizes the hot and relentless binary suns are gone. In their place… nothing. Just pure light that is soft, inviting and hypnotizing. She steps forward and feels an odd sensation and looks down. She is standing on the edge of a pool of water within the oasis. Her bare feet enveloped by the crystal clear waters. The moment her skin was coated with the warm water she could feel the love, joy and hope that had flood her soul and had encompassed her when holding her little Dray'ven just moments before. Ventra stepped deeper into the water. This at first surprised her since she had always feared deep water, it's something she only knew from stories and holovids – more fantasy than reality. But now she could barely keep herself from jumping in headfirst. From feeling her whole body surrounded by this warmth under such beautiful soft light.

Ventra took another step in further and started to submerge under the warm surface water and she began to feel… coldness. She went even deeper until the warm surface was at her waist. But below it was a dark, ice cold feeling that began to overwhelm her. The soft lit skies began to turn dark and foreboding. The once blue clear sky began to bubble with purple-black clouds. Ventra began to sink into the waters. All the warmth was now gone and all she felt was a dark cold fear. Not fear for herself but fear for a piece of her… something separate yet a part of her… Dray'ven! She opened her eyes in that ice-cold pit and looked down, deep into the endless black void.

An infant's bellowed cries pulled Ventra hard from of her deep sleep.She looked at her baby boy, pulled him in close and held him tight. Ventra squeezed him gently and began to sob, crying with her baby boy. She held him and kept telling herself to never let him go. Whispering into his ear, promising to never leave and that she would always protect him. Then guilt pierced her stomach, cutting deep like a cold blade, and she realized that this moment would be the first time she lied to him…