Disclaimer – all original Star Wars characters in this fanfic (excluding my OC's) are the property of Lucasfilm and Disney.
Chapter 6 "The Rules of the Force"
30 BBY – Planet Shili, Corvala's Outskirts.
Since his third birthday, Zai'shira was already introducing Deiven into lightsaber combat and hard physical training. He never complained or tried to worm his way out a training session, quite the opposite, he was always full of joy and had a lot of fun training. And since Ahsoka left Shili to become a Jedi, his desire to learn and train multiplied.
"Are you ready Deiven ?," Zai'shira asked assuming the wide and open Niman stance, with the lightsaber blade held out from the body in a one-handed grip, the yellow blade angled upwards and back, while the off-hand was folded across the chest.
"I'm always ready," Deiven replied with a confident smile. He, on the other hand, assumed the balanced two-handed guard, an opening Ataru stance. Holding his green-coloured lightsaber vertically with both palms on the right side of the body, he prepared himself for an attack. The lightsaber previously belonged to the Togruta, in her young days as a padawan. For him, it was a substitute till he assembles his own lightsaber.
Large, covered with turu-grass plains, were perfect for an Ataru form and Deiven knew that. With a force augmented leap, he closed the distance between them in a split second. Just before their blades clashed, Zai'shira switched her stance from form VI to form III, also know as Soresu.
While Deiven was moving with lightning speed, jumping, spinning and flipping all around Zai'shira, attacking her from all angles with blindingly fast strikes, she was moving with a slow, hypnotic grace. Relying solely on her instincts she was blocking and parrying all attacks with relative ease, despite the fact that her whole vision was blurred in green.
Deiven wasn't skilled enough to penetrate Master Zai's defenses, and although his stamina and condition were far greater that her's, he would be the first to tire out if they will continue like this. Ataru was very taxing and wasn't suitable for prolonged battles, and Soresu's sorely purpose was a long-term survival.
Forced to change his tactic, Deiven decided to use something new and unorthodox. With an overhand swing aimed at her montrals, he forced Zai'shira to block it with a high guard, at the same time uncoiling his tail and grabbing her left leg with it. Pulling her leg towards him, he forced her to do a vertical split.
Still blade-locked, Devin pressed his weight at Zai'shira. Togruta smirked, extending her arm and released a strong force-push, sending him flying backward. In mid-air, however, Deiven did something that Zai'shira never taught him and never suspected him to knew. With a quick motion, he extended his arm and opened his palm, releasing a bolt of lightning from his fingertips.
With widened eyes Zai'shira managed to catch lightning with her lightsaber, while remaining in a split position. "Stop !" she yelled, causing Deiven the clench his fist and interrupting the sith's technique. The Togruta was shocked, for her sake just mentally. She rose to her feet and so did Deiven, who landed on his rear end.
"Who taught you that ?" She asked with a scolding look on her face.
"The Sith Lord," Deiven replied flatly. "I don't remember his name, though."
Zai'shira was dumbfounded. Not only her pupil knew a sith technique, but he also learned it from the Sith itself. "When did you learned it ?" She asked walking over to him.
"I think two days ago," he replied scratching his head.
Zai'shira noticed that he was making surprisingly fast progress lately. When she taught him something, after a few days he was already much, much better at it. It was suspicious but she never would've thought that he had a Sith teacher.
"Where is this Sith now ?" She asked folding her arms.
"It's easier to show you, but it would be better if we do this inside our home," he suggested.
"Why not here ?" Zai'shira asked narrowing her eyes.
"Just come on !" Deiven exclaimed insistently, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the capital.
The Togruta sighed resignedly and followed her pupil home. She didn't have a reason not to trust him and besides she was really curious.
When they got home, Deiven immediately guided Zai'shira to his room. The young boy sat down cross-legged in the middle and with a smile he gestured his master to do the same. Shrugging she complied and looked around the room. Before she could ask something, Deiven raised his finger with a grave look on his face.
"Before we start, there is a rule of the force that you need to remember," he stated.
"A rule ?" She asked puzzled.
"Yes, if I understand correctly we will travel in a different place, but we must be willing to train and only that," he warned. "If you try do achieve something else, there will be trouble."
"Ooookay," Zai'shira didn't know what to really expect. She didn't even fully understand him right now.
Deiven pulled out his hands to Zai'shira. "Please grab my hands and concentrate, let the force guide you, place your fate in the force."
Zai'shira closed her eyes and exhaled, calming herself and focusing. When she grabbed his hands at first she didn't feel nothing, but after a few seconds, she felt a rush of the wind on her skin. Opening her eyes she noticed that they were no longer in the palace.
1000 BBY – Planet Ambria, Unknown Location.
"Deiven ! Where are we ?" Asked Zai'shira with a raised voice. In one moment there were sitting on the floor in his room, in the second they were outside on a hill in some foreign place. She stood up and started to look around.
"Hmmm... I don't recognize this place," Deiven replied following Zai'shira's example. "Every time I use this technique, it teleports me somewhere else."
Almost immediately Zai'shira discovered that this wasn't Shili anymore. The whole landscape was barren and bleak, a total contrast of her home planet. She could even see some strange lizards running not far away from them. Zai'shira knew for certain that those creatures didn't exist on Shili.
"How is this possible ? Did you just... teleported us to some other planet ?" Zai'shira asked observing her surroundings the whole time.
"No," denied Deiven. "It was the force, not me. I only asked the force to train us."
Zai'shira pointed at something in the distance. "I see a small house, if it's inhabited, we can ask the owner where are we ?"
"Good plan," Deiven agreed.
The two walked down from the hill carefully, heading to the dwelling. Zai'shira knew she's gonna be footsore after this. Sharp stones and pieces of corroded metal from the wreckages will make sure of that. "You could've told me that we are going to be teleported to another planet," she complained. "The terrain here is not exactly destined for walking barefoot."
"Hey ! You are the one who wanted to go," retorted Deiven. "Besides, there are worst places I've been already. I've been on Hoth half naked, on Tatooine fighting with Tusken Raiders and on Moraband in some Sith Lord tomb with rancor-like creatures that tried to eat me."
Zai'shira shook her head frowning at him. "You could've died !" she exclaimed pinching the bridge of her nose. "What were you thinking ?"
"Well," Deiven grinned innocently, "I did die. On Hoth I froze to death, on Tatooine one of the sand people shot me in the head and on Moraband... well I don't remember exactly, but it was painful."
Her blue eyes widened. Now she didn't understand anything anymore. Her mind was now full of questions. In all her years studying the force, she didn't hear of such thing. "Deiven why didn't you... no, after we get back home you're going to explain everything to me in detail," she ordered.
"Okay," he replied with a smile.
In halfway Zai'shira suddenly stopped short, sensing something ominous. It was a dark presence, so dark, that it made her skin crawl. "I feel the darkness," she stated.
"Yes, it's the dark side of the force and it's... angry" Deiven narrowed his amber eyes. "Someone close is using only the dark side of the force, breaking the rules of the force," he snarled.
Zai'shira grabbed her lightsaber hilt and shot him a quick glance. "He knows more and more everytime we talk, I need to have a serious conversation with him," she said in her thoughts.
When they carried on, Deiven noticed a small girl wearing tangled reddish dress, crying near some kind of vehicle, whereas Zai'shira heard someone talking in the house nearby. After taking a closer look the Togruta changed her mind about the house, it was a hovel. They didn't even have a door, only a piece curtain hanging in a doorway.
"Do you live here ?" Deiven asked walking over to the girl, which curled up in fear. "Don't be afraid, we won't hurt you," he said with a warm, reassuring smile.
The girl nodded slightly and pointed at the house. "Please help my daddy," she said with weak, timid voice.
Deiven and Zai'shira suddenly heard a male screaming. "You're fully healed, now leave us be !"
Someone moved the curtain out of his way leaving the house. Zai'shira fixed her gaze on the person. The man was a tall and bulky human male, with a bald head and pale skin with many scars. She noticed two black tattoos encircling his cold, yellow eyes. The Togruta didn't have any doubts... he was a Sith Lord.
Behind him stood another human, in his late-thirties, with long dark hair and toned skin. Clad in dirty clothes, by Zai'shira's assumption, he was a healer and a father of the girl.
The Sith spotted the Togruta and the golden-skinned boy, turning to face them with a stone gaze. They all stared at each other without a word. Finally, he made the first move, by walking a few steps towards them and stopping in midway. Definitely intrigued by the strange boy he never saw before.
"You're a long way from home Jedi," he said. The dark energy emanating from him was menacing and overwhelming.
"And who are you suppose to be ?" Zai'shira asked mockingly, trying to get under his skin.
"I'm... Darth Bane," he answered with no emotion in his voice, activating his crimson bladed lightsaber.
The name echoed in Zai'shira's mind. The shocked Togruta didn't want to believe that this Sith standing in front of her was the creator of the 'Rule of two'. She heard and read books about him, but to be in his presence was a totally different thing. It's was like standing a few meters away from the dark void itself. But, if this was really Dart Bane who lived millennium ago, that meant they were in the past right now.
"Deiven !" she yelled igniting her yellow lightsaber and taking a Soresu defensive stance. "Get the girl to safety, now !"
Deiven grabbed the quivering girl by the hand pulling her to her feet and towards her home. Luckily for them Darth Bane was focusing on the Togruta, considering her as the only threat around here. The girl's father immediately took her in his arms and retreated inside their home.
Running towards the vehicle, Deiven jumped on its roof and focused his attention on the Sith Lord, who prepared himself for combat. Darth Bane held his lightsaber above his head in a high guard, the blade was angled back and downwards: a textbook Djem So stance. The boy anticipated this taking into account Bane's physique.
After a few seconds, Bane started to casually walk towards Zai'shira and when he was in range, he attacked. Every blow was meant to overpower and overwhelm. It took only a few attacks from Darth Bane, to force Zai'shira to change her tactic: dodge and redirect his attacks instead of blocking them. His sheer strength, furtherly enhanced by the force, greatly surpassed her's.
Deiven didn't found himself stronger, faster or more powerful than others, but if he could brag about something, it would be his ability to insightfully evaluate one's strengths and weaknesses. It was the reason that he was watching their fight right now, instead of attacking the Sith.
He immediately recognized mastery level form V's Djem So variant, but he also saw that Darth Bane's swings were suspiciously too wide, as if he'd wanted her to attack him. Djem So placed a heavy focus on brute strength and pure power, with wide, powerful strikes and parries followed immediately by a counterattack. Deiven suspected that Bane wanted to lure Zai'shira into attacking him, and then kill her with a deadly counter.
"You only delaying the inevitable Jedi," taunted Bane implying Dun Möch tactic in order to erode Zai'shira's will and concentration.
"I'm no Jedi... you Sith filth. I'm the one who's gonna kill you and by that I will end your legacy !" she retorted loudly, meaning what she said.
Deiven heard her clearly. "Oh, no...," he placed his hand on his forehand. He knew what will come next.
Just when Zai'shira was planning to counter one of Bane's powerful strikes her hand froze in place, unable to move she could only watch as the Dark Lord's crimson blade cuts her in half, separating her torso from her abdomen. The pain was intoxicating her, but she didn't scream. Her mouth filled with blood and her vision became blurry. Not noticing even when her upper half fell down on the ground.
Darth Bane was satisfied, but even he was surprised by this outcome. He turned to face Deiven, who was standing on the land crawler, a vehicle which he used to get here. What surprised Bane was that the boy wasn't angry or sad, he was... disappointed.
"You didn't expect your Master to fail ?" He asked.
"I thought she will listen to me and obey the rules," he replied shaking his head. "You cannot lie to the Force... the Force knows everything."
Darth Bane arched an eyebrow, the boy intrigued him in some strange way. Actually, he was looking for an apprentice. Someone who will crave the power that he will embody.
Deiven knew he couldn't win against the Sith Lord, at least not this time. He sighed and closed his eyes.
30 BBY – Planet Shili, Corvala, The Palace of Aven Tunalen.
Zai'shira opened her eyes with a loud gasp. Looking around she discovered that they were back in the Deiven's room in the same cross-legged positions. Instinctively she reached to her stomach still feeling the heat of the lightsaber. "Did I just... died ?" she asked with a horrified expression.
"Yes... "Deiven replied with a scolding look on his face. "Tell me... who was that Sith Lord?"
"He is...was... Darth Bane, he created the rule of two." Zai'shira responded downcasted. "I thought that if I'll kill him, then I will change all that's happened for the better. What happened ?"
"You broke the rule and the promise that you made to me Master Zai," complained Deiven. "You wanted to kill him to change the future, not to develop your skills, and because of that, the force itself punished you."
"I... I'm sorry," she apologized.
"There are some rules of the force that you cannot break without consequences," said Deiven. "Mostly the penalty is the corruption of dark side of the force, but sometimes the force punishes you the way you just experienced."
"Wait... the dark side itself is the corruption," said Zai'shira.
"No, it's not," he argued. "The dark side of the force it's like the claws and teeth of the force, it corrupts those that use yet don't understand the force. If you understand all four aspects of the force, and you are willing to use them accordingly to their rules, then the dark side will not corrupt you. Firstly you cannot use the dark side to save someone's live or create it for that matter. The sole purpose of the dark side is to hurt, kill and destroy, and it shouldn't be used in any other way."
"Secondly," he continued, "if you try to use any other aspect of the force with the intent to kill someone, instead of the dark side, then we have the same situation. Only the dark side can take away life, it's her holy right."
Zai'shira didn't believe what she just heard. She wished Grand Master Yoda was here, the look on his face would be priceless.
"How do you know all of this ?" she asked.
"I was born with this knowledge, at least I think so..." he stood up stretching his arms and legs. "The Jedi and Sith Codes are unknown for me, but I understand the will of the force perfectly."
Zai'shira tried to stand up but she felt the pain in her muscles and feet. Although she didn't have any injuries her whole body was sore from the fight. Still, something was strange.
"How long did we been there ?" She asked.
"The times passes much faster over there when I'm using this training," Deiven replied with a smile. "I don't know exactly how, but I think that half an hour there is equal to five minutes here."
She had to admit this 'training' was very effective. You could experience the real battle without losing your life in reality and in much shorter amount of time. Zai'shira decided to trust her pupil and friend, he will teach her the rules of the force and she will teach him everything she knows about lightsaber combat and other force tricks. If she has to learn the ways of the dark side in order to protect the one's she loves, then so be it.
Please R&R ;)