The Path Before Us
Chapter 1: The Awakening
Disclaimer for the whole series: I do not own anything in the SWTOR or KOTOR universe or franchise. I simply own my own characters and ideas.
"Life is short; forgive quickly, love truly, kiss slowly and never regret anything."
"Zyelle…"
Everything was black. I can't remember the last time I felt anything. All I know is misty darkness and a hushed voice calling my name. I don't remember anything other than that name. Zyelle… Who was that voice? That reassuring and tender voice…
The serene feeling I was engulfed in was shattered as tall black mountains broke from the ground and rose up on either side of me. Fog covered the rock floor and reached up into the cloud covered skies begging for escape.
"Zyelle…"
The air was filled with screams of agony and I began to run towards what, I do not know. My chest was contracting from lack of air and my legs cramped up from my feet but I was moving so quickly the scenery around me blurred into nothing.
"Zyelle!" a voice wailed in pain. Atton. I shuddered to a stop and stared at the scene before me. The ground was splitting into puzzle pieces and the tall mountains trembled and fell towards the earth. Atton's back was leaning against the temple entrance as he sat on the cold ground. Crimson blood pooled around his body and the foundation above him began to crack. I took a step back before force pushing myself forward across the endless abyss below me. My feet hit the solid ground and I instantly dropped down to Atton's side.
I tried to stop the blood that flowed from Atton's wound. I was desperately checking his life signs with the force and used my vision to see what he was really feeling. A wet hand cupped my cheek and wiped away the tears that were flowing from my eyes.
"Zyelle… You should have gone back to the ship. There's nothing you can do to help me here. You know that. I'm as good as gone," Atton choked on blood and clutched onto my arm in terror. He was trying to put on a brave face for me but his aura was spinning wildly and twitching in the air showing his pain. I looked into his hazel eyes, willing him to stay with me. Panic in this moment would do neither of us any good.
"I wasn't about to leave my Pazaak playing, smart mouthed pilot here alone," I tried to lighten the atmosphere. I pushed his hair back from his face and placed my forehead against his. His breathing was becoming more sporadic and his pulse was weakening with every passing moment. I reached through his body with the force and tried to locate the source of the problem. My heart stopped when I finally found it and realized he was right. I was too late. I didn't make it in time. Damn it Meetra. Damn it Traya. Damn it all.
I hadn't realized how hard I was crying until Atton wrapped his arms around me with what remaining strength he had to muster. He hushed me softly and ran his fingers through my hair. I trembled violently as I held him as close to me as I could possibly manage. Please… Don't leave me…
"I'm not going anywhere gorgeous." Atton assured me. I hadn't realized I communicated through the force until after his reply. It looks like Meetra and I's training wasn't as bad as we had originally anticipated. He had learned a thing or two in these past months traveling through space finding the members of the Jedi council.
"Atton… I…" I couldn't finish before lava from Malachor V's core erupted through the large cracks in the planets floor. We both spun our heads to look at the burning liquid and I created a barrier above of the broken temple ruins to shield us from the heat. However, this planet made me weak and I wasn't sure how long I was going to be able to keep this going. Atton gently touched my shoulder and the look on his face broke my heart.
"Zyelle, you need to get out of here before it's too late." I wanted to hit him. To chide him for such a foolish request he knew I had no intention of accepting.
"Not a chance babe. I'm not going anywhere. If I die, I will die with the only man I have ever loved. Do you understand me?" I tried to be as firm as I could in this moment. Atton's weak and heartbroken smile tore me apart but he nodded and gently rested his head on my chest. Tears streamed down my face and mixed with the blood soaked rock.
A sickening crack echoed through the air and I looked up to see the entryway finally give. I dropped the barrier I had made to catch the rubble but my world went black and the air filled with nauseating screams.
All I ever knew was the darkness. So what was this dream? Was it even real? Was I even real?
Suddenly lights began to trickle through the darkness. Maybe this was it. Maybe I was going to die today. After so many years of deafening silence and blinding darkness maybe I was to finally be free of this prison.
The darkness was replaced with a blazing light. Muffled voices filled my ears but no voices that I recognized. My whole body felt stiff like my limbs hadn't been used in over a thousand years. It was cold. Colder than I had ever remembered being. My senses activated immediately in defense of my unusual and new surroundings. I saw one aura immediately surrounding me and a few other auras in the close proximity but nothing else for an eternity.
I tried to take a deep breath in but it felt like my chest was being pressed down by a bantha. When I opened my eyes I found myself immediately regretting it. Was I in front of a large star? I blinked a few times until my eyes began to adjust. The smell of chemicals filled my nose and quick beeps of machines came from my left. I turned my head slowly to see a man tinkering with a datapad. He was of average height. He wore doctor's robes and combat boots with a blaster at his side and a belt full of medical supplies. His hair was short and black and I could see part of his mustache when he slightly turned his head to look down at supplies.
It seemed like I was in a med room. That explained the unnerving bright lights and the smell of chemicals. I looked out the door and saw a large holo-communicator station which was a dead giveaway that we were on a starship of some kind which explained why I was so cold. It was bright so it definitely wasn't a Sith starship. Was it possibly a starship from the Republic? Smuggler? Please tell me I'm not on a starship of a bounty hunter. Of course, if that were the case I would probably be in a cage instead of in a med center. My eyes began to flicker around the room looking for some sort of weapon if needed. I didn't know what these people were going to do to me after they discovered I was awake.
"Ariae! Our guest is awake!" The doctor yelled across the ship. Well, I guess we were about to find out. I tried to sit up in a defensive position but my body betrayed me and I fell back to the med bed with a thud. Well that didn't work quite like I had planned. "Woah, hey, calm down. You're safe. We're not going to hurt you."
"Who…" my voice was weak and it stung when I spoke but I pushed on, "Who are you? Where am I?" The doctor gave me a warm smile and filled a cup with some water.
"My name is Doc. You're currently on a Jedi starship headed to the planet Tython." He answered me while handing me the glass. I slowly let the water revive my dry throat before placing it on the table next to me and pushing myself into a sitting position.
"Look, thank you for… whatever you did to help me, but I don't deal with Jedi unless I'm forced and if you're forcing me we're going to have a problem." After dealing with ignorant councils and foolish Jedi masters, I didn't make it a point to make friends with lots of their kind. My memory was still hazy and there were a lot of spots missing but I knew for a fact that I did not like to deal with the exhausting and foolish ways of the Jedi.
"Are you a Sith then? You're force aura is stronger than any I have ever felt. The council could feel in on Tython so you must be a force user of some sort," a soothing female voice spoke from the doorway. She was wearing Jedi robes over her battle armor and I could see a lightsaber hanging from her hip. The force was flowing strongly around her. I gave her a blank stare.
"No. I avoid the Sith even more than the Jedi. However, I do not like to waste my energy listening to Jedi preach either." I took my stand on the issue and never broke eye contact with the woman. This must be Ariae, the person Doc called out to earlier. I could hear Doc chuckle from beside me.
"She looks like she's going to be feisty. I'll let you two work this out," Doc stated before starting to stroll out the door.
"No. You stay. The Jedi can leave," I stopped him. My memories were flooding in now and I didn't want anything to do with her. Every time I got entangled with Jedi, something always happened to almost destroy the peace of the galaxy. Ariae stared at me, glaring daggers into my own eyes. Doc's aura was extremely uncomfortable but I wasn't going to talk to her alone that's for sure. I saw Ariae visibly relax before giving a nod to Doc and then retreating from the room. I let out a sigh of relief and Doc clicked his tongue.
"I'm never going to hear the end of that. Thanks… well, I don't seem to know your name," Doc stared at me curiously and I turned to look him straight in the eyes.
"My name is Zyelle Ryxx."
Hi guys! My name is Jenna and I haven't posted anything on here for a very, very long time. There are stories on here that I will probably never finish and I'm extremely sorry for those people but I don't even know where I was going with those stories anymore… whoops.
This story is going to be very different from anything else I've seen on here. I'm connecting both the KOTOR and SWTOR universe with a character who… well, you'll see. She's very unique. There's going to be a lot of background coming your way in the next chapter and then I'm going to get started on the action and the actual story. No, she is not going to fall in love with Doc. Yes, she is going to fall in love with Malavai. Yes, she's a very complicated character and I hope you love her as much as I do!
Please leave me any comments and questions you have! I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. Leave any questions you have on Zyelle because you may think of things that I don't and I need to add in the next chapter.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Shoot me a message if you want to know anything about me or have any questions you want answered right away because I'd be happy to talk to any of you! Have a great day!
-Jenna
