Trials of the Old Republic
The first thing I noticed through a throbbing headache was a stick jutting into my back, everything else came in slow order; the smell of death was heavy in the air, the metallic taste of blood in my mouth, the whisper of the wind. It was all calm and peaceful but along with it was a layer of something else, a coating of wrongness that I couldn't place immediately. After sitting up I reached behind me and felt for the stick that was poking me, I felt with my hand that it was far too smooth to be a stick and it's shape was to no way recognizable to me. The "stick" was blunt on one end and jagged on the other, barely longer than my hand to the elbow. I opened my eyes to see a white bone, broken to a point. I threw it away in shock, and it was then when I heard a noise that was not so peaceful, the sound of multiple growls.
I looked up to see the scariest thing I thought I would ever lay my eyes upon. It came from a four-legged monster, with three horns sticking out of his head, one at the top of its head shaped like a blunt cone and the other two curved towards the center growing out ward, these were pointed directly at me. I slowly tried to scoot backward, only to have my hand be cut slightly by a blade behind me. This caused the growling to intensify, the fresh scent of blood increasing their anticipation of the meal that they thought was to come. I quickly glanced at the blade that I had cut my self with. With this brief look I noticed it was a single sided edge with an odd marking on the bottom of the handle. I grabbed the sword and jumped to my feet while holding out the edge towards the beast nearest to me with my right hand...
I was surrounded, I had nowhere to turn and my only choice was to fight a pack of monsters, my cut hand and aching head being a constant reminder of how awake I was. I FELT the five monsters pacing around me, waiting for their chance; they knew they had all the time in the world. I on the other hand was getting nervous due to their constant circling, My hands showed this as they began to sweat around the sword as we continued to wait… and to wait. The only noises was the ever constant growling that the monsters did along with the odd drop of blood that dripped out of my hand.
In the same sense that I felt the monsters, I sensed a monster behind me preparing to pounce. I rolled to my right, swinging the sword up as I stood and I was rewarded with fresh blood on my blade. I cleared my mind of the traces of fear within me, the traces of imminent doom, I focused solely on this dance with my foes. I quickly moved the sword to my side and pointed the blade straight up. I could feel the caution of the remaining beasts. I felt a breeze without wind and the two hounds at either side jump towards me, before they were at the peak of their jump I had already dashed to the monster in front of me, causing a diagonal gash along it's torso and with a flip I impaled it between the shoulder blades. Twisting as I fell I landed directly in the path of a charging creature, rolling to the right I brought up the blade, causing my sword to cut cleanly into the body of a beast. Spinning I stabbed the last hound in the skin and muscle holding the jaw in place. My feet dancing away I spun yet again to stab the beast between what I hopped were its ribs.
Breathing heavily, I felt a presence force its way into my head. I fell to the ground as the spike of pain made me want to scream and It was everything I could do just to push my sword away before I hit the ground. I curled myself into a ball and held my head, the pangs of pain flowing throughout my body, I soon noticed the alien presence attempting to rip me from my consciousness and I let it if only to escape the pain of it ripping through my body.
I awoke with my face on a cold metallic floor; completely different than the dry earth I had collapsed in. I waited there for the pain to creep once again into my head, when nothing happened I slowly pushed myself to my feet and took a glance around me. There was a dark hallway before me, with old manual doors lining it, when I looked behind me it was much of the same thing with the exception of one thing… something radiated from there, and I could feel the slight tug of my body wishing to go toward it.
The doors at my side showed the red light and it was in that faint light that I realized I was wearing loose robes that allowed me freedom of movement. On my belt there was a cylinder with an odd switch on it, picking it up I pressed the switch and with a hiss a blade of azure light sprang forth from what I now recognized as a handle. I held this new weapon close to me as I walked with delicate care, slowly putting one foot in front of another, as if I was walking on fragile glass. While I continued to walk down the seemingly endless tunnel, I realized the only thing that accompanied me was the dim hum of my blade and the slight sound my boots were making on metallic floor.
This slow pattern continued on until I saw a slight green light in the distance and I increased my speed toward the door, the only unlocked door in this thrice damned hallway. As I walked up to the door, my hand automatically went to the switch near my right side, pressing and watched the door slide open. I immediately regretted not ignoring this door. What I felt was a second wave radiating toward me and while the previous one held only power, this one was of pure and unadulterated sorrow. At the center of this pain I saw a figure with a face that was somewhere between child and woman, telling me she was not so much older or younger than I. The problem with this was the blazing red light that came from the hilt near her right hand.
The most startling fact of all was that she was on her knees weeping as if she had just lost a loved one. I quickly thumbed the switch on my edge and bolted toward her in order to find out more about this dark building, however, I didn't go three steps in before the figure suddenly lifted her head. When her yellow eyes recognized me she screeched out a single word and raised a hand in my direction. The word she said would haunt me deep into my time awake just as much as the lightning that flew from her hand and threw back into the door that closed behind me. She continued to repeat this word as she sent constant bolts of lightning into my body, the pure agony of which causing me to howl.
"Traitor!" She yelled yet again as the lightning stopped suddenly and I dropped to my knees, reaching for the hilt for my blade.
"Who did I betray? I manage to say through the pain that this so-called dream had inflicted on me. Her answer was taken into the silence of this room and all I could see were her angry motions, ending with her holding her red bladed light in two hands toward me.
"If it's a fight you want." I mutter below my breath as the yellowed eyed phantom leaped at me.
Damn
Was the only real thought going through my head, or rather my mind was entirely focused on the long streams of damns. To be honest I didn't know the words to describe the pain but saying Damn was a good start. If I were to try to describe my pain I would probably say…
What would I say?
That single question froze me over, it was then that I had realized that there was a gaping hole in where my memories should be. I still knew how to talk, walk, and do all the basic functions but I couldn't remember where I was on this grassy area, I couldn't even remember WHO I was. What's with all the corpses around anyway?
Wait what?
I looked around and saw the area littered with bones and a couple of freshly killed… THINGS. I looked down to see a bloodied sword clenched in my fist; through the pain I could recall the fight with these things, flashes of images leading up to my dream. As the pain began to fade I notice sounds off somewhere down the cliff I was on. A startled cry that came from the bottom of the cliff near me, a feeling in the pit of my stomach made me think that I shouldn't just be standing there, that same feeling guided my gaze toward the scene before me.
Running toward the foot of the hill I could see a figure with brown hair wrapped with a modest robes, fending off more of those beasts with a blade that was noticeably different from my own. While mine had only a single blade, the woman's sword had two on each side of the hilt; another difference would be the fact that her sword was drenched in fresh blood.
It was then I realized that there was simply too many enemies for an exhausted person to face, as I looked for a way down the hill I felt myself panic as I noticed very few handle holds which I could use to climb down. I raised my eyes to the scene before me and realized that the woman had put her back against the cliff I was standing on, it was a desperate attempt since the creatures began to crowd around her, panting and waiting apprehensively at their soon to be prey.
I quickly closed my eyes and attempted to stop panicking by taking deep breaths. While my panic went down I realized that I could again sense the foes before me and how truly tired the woman before me felt, she would fight thinking that she was doomed to die I felt something deep within me realized that she was to pay an important role for the future.
I took a step back
This isn't my fight right?
I took another step back
There is no guarantee that I'll even not hurt myself through the fall.
I stepped back once again
It is likely that I'll just die with her.
I stepped back again, a longer one this time
Why should I have to die with her?
I turned around and took two long steps before stopping
Can I really let her die?
I clench my sword as I heard the yelp of a creature being injured
It is her own stupidity to blame for her dying out here all-alone.
I turn around and look at the edge of my cliff
Will I die, never knowing my true self?
It was at that moment I felt a beast prepare for a leap, I knew when it was going to move and more importantly where I should jump. I ran at the edge and jumped, if I missed two things could happen. One I could commit suicide by falling on the beast's horn or Two the woman would be dead, neither of those would really be the ideal action. I slowly lifted my blade with one hand above my shoulder and pointed with my other hand at where the beast would be when I landed…
With a stroke of luck I had jumped at the exact way so I could land perfectly on the target. I felt time slow as I neared the beast, I saw its every breath and I even saw the tiny whiskers on its nose. I made sure I was the last thing the beast saw before my blade pierced right through the left eye. I pulled the blade out and quickly jumped to my right, landing a heavy blow to the nearest beast. Spinning behind me I saw the woman ripping her blade from the now carcass, using my momentum from the spin I cleaved my blade into another monster, removing its head from the rest of its body. I then threw myself to the ground when I felt the woman throw her blade into the chest of the Kath hound trying to flank me. Launching myself off the ground I landed on another beast, ripping its neck apart with my blade. The battle continued in a blur, ignoring the tiny cuts adding up as me and the woman continued to cut down the beasts. I kicked, hopped, smashed, cut, sliced and every morbid combination thereof as my body moved on its own accord. As soon as the final horned foe was defeated I fell to my knees, the rush of battle gone. When I tried to raise myself off the ground I felt a blade press against my throat. I looked up to see the woman I had saved looking at me with an impassive face.
Well, this isn't going as planned
"Who are you?" The Beautiful face asked
FOCUS!
I tried again for an answer… and began to panic due to my lack of name. "I don't remember, "I answered truthfully.
"What are you?" she asked quickly after.
I simply narrow my eyes at her "Yeah 'cause since I'm totally unaware of WHO I am means I should know exactly what I am." I tried to pump my voice as full of sarcasm as possible.
In hindsight It isn't a good idea to use that tone to someone who could kill me by only twitching a wrist.
"How did you do that?" it was obvious she was loosing her patience.
"Do what?"
"You mean you don't know?"
"Don't know what?
But why on whatever planet this is would I do that? It would just be boring!
"Then perhaps you wouldn't happen to know about the disturbance that brought me here?"
…Damn I have a feeling that was me
"What kind of disturbance?" I answered yet I felt that she picked up on my blatant lie the second it left my lips.
A smirk tugged at the edge of her lips, "Oh, I am sure you know what kind seeing as you just leaped from where it was coming from." Sheathed the sword on her back, "Now I would recommend showing me what is up there on that cliff." I rubbed my neck as I slowly tried to get to my feet. The face she had made it clear she didn't trust me "I will then take you to the council, they will decide what to do with you afterwards."
I eye the blade on her back warily "Is this how you normally treat those who have just saved your life? Remind me to never get into an argument with you." She narrowed her eyes a bit at that, "… besides I like the name of the damsel in distress before I get ordered around by her at sword point… "
"All in due time, now jump up to that cliff before I throw you." Came her curt answer.
"Now THAT'S something I would like to see…" I said as I looked at the cliff that was twice my height, "…First off I can barely walk, and second… please sweet heart, show me how a woman that is less than half my weight could possibly do-"
I didn't get to finish my sentence as I felt myself fly through the air and land on my back, knocking the wind out of me. I saw the woman jump up behind me and land softly, all while holding a smug grin on her face. "Don't call me sweet heart." was all that she said to me.
I have GOT to watch what I wish for…
"So you have a sense of humor… wonderful." I mutter sarcastically under my breath
The woman that threw me gazed at the area with a look of pure shock on her face, looking down toward the ground like it was death himself. As I followed her gaze I could see why, all around us there was no living thing to be seen. Only long dead grass and the carcasses of the horrid beasts I had killed, not even a bug could be found here. The feeling of wrongness from before swept over me, not the kind that lead to danger… this one seemed to be trying to tell me something. I concentrated on the feeling, not wanting it to escape my grasp. The more I concentrated the more the unease grew; I kept mentally reaching for it yet it would always leap away from my reach. With a mental growl I grabbed the feeling, trying to examine what it contained. Realization exploded through me when I figured out what was wrong here… this whole piece of land was covered with a thick taint. Light and good was snuffed out and were replaced by darkness and rage, everything here screamed out that it was evil. I looked back to the woman to feel a fist crash against my jaw and I fell backwards, As I collided with the ground he shock and pain of the actual fall had not registered in my mind since the pain in my head spiked once again and I passed out.. getting re-acquainted with the soil of this hostile place.
