AN:I would like to reiterate I do not own any rights to do with Dark Disciple or Star Wars. I say this because there are a lot of similarities in this chapter to the book. Also if anything in this contradicts anything with canon Star Wars just go with it as I am not all knowing and Star Wars is pretty big. I try to keep up with books, movies, and TV shows but it is almost impossible. This is a part one and part two is mostly written already and should be up soon.

Thank you for reading and leave any comments or ideas.

8 months ago

Ahsoka arrived in the cockpit as Asajj was preparing to take off. "Why are we going to Dathomir? Revan seemed sure that this would be the best way for me to access and learn how to use the dark side."

"The Nightsisters, my people lived on Dathomir and the planet is steeped in the darker side of the force. I think he wishes to have us train there because it is easier to draw from it there. Also there is a special coming of age ceremony on Dathomir that I will have you go through that will help." Asajj commented

"On Shili we have an Akul hunt. I never got to participate in it since I was with the Jedi. I think next time I go home I should do it." She mused.

"You should. I underwent the Nightsister ritual when I returned after Dooku's betrayal. They took me in and accepted me without hesitation." A tear escaped her as she paused in her preparations before brushing it away.

"What happened?" Ahsoka asked quietly as she watched Asajj move around the cabin. Ahsoka knew they had crossed a line recently and they had become close but this was deeply personal and she didn't want to step on Asajj's toes in this.

Her worry was for not though as Asajj was thinking the same thing. She could trust Ahsoka. Neither could explain exactly what happened on Malachor but it was as if both understood what the other wanted.

"Dooku. He sent Grievous with an army. He attacked and killed all of my sisters." Ahsoka nodded. She knew she couldn't understand what that felt like. There was no platitudes she could give to make her partner feel better so she changed the subject.

"Are we going to go through this ritual or rite of passage to unlock the darkness?" Ahsoka asked.

"Yes and no. We will need to train. We have new light-sabers and books that need to be studied. After what happened to us with Savage we really need to be ready for anything." Ahsoka just nodded her head in agreement. "Also when it comes to the dark side it isn't really locked it is just unused for you. Dathomir, with its environment steeped in the darker side of the force will be the perfect environment for you to learn how to harness it and control it. The planet is nearly empty so if a mistake happens then there is no one around to get hurt. You will need to spend time practicing with dark side abilities and learn to control them rather than just unleashing. The books we brought from Malachor should help with that." She concluded her plan for their trip as she finished putting in the coordinates and started the engines. The ship took off on Auto pilot toward Dathomir so Asajj went to the lounge to relax.

"Thank you for doing this." Ahsoka fidgeted. "I know this is a huge deal for you to have an outsider going to your home. I am glad you trust me enough to bring me there" Ahsoka went over to where Asajj had sat down and straddled her lap. She wrapped her arms around Asajj's back and buried her face into Asajj's neck.

"You are big on cuddling aren't you?" Asajj said chuckling while bringing her arms up around Ahsoka stroking her back.

"Yes I am. And whatever this is, it's good." Both had smiles on their face as they fell asleep.

Asajj shook Ahsoka awake after a few hours of silence. "We are here." Ahsoka rubbed the sleep as she came back to consciousness. She could tell they were out of hyperspace. Asajj went up to the cockpit to land the ship.

After landing Asajj opened the door and stepped out onto a planet she never thought she would return to. There were so few memories here and most of them were terrible. Ahsoka followed her out and froze. She could feel the darkness that had permeated this planet. It was clearer here than Malachor. While something about Malachor felt off and unusual, here it felt like the darkness belonged, that is was a part of the planet itself. Asajj grabbed her hand to calm her and pulled her into the woods.

The ground was a red colored clay that made the air dusty as they walked between the trees giving it an eerie feeling. Ahsoka looked around her to try and take in her surroundings. This was her partner's home. She saw some sacks hanging of the branches that did not look like a part of nature.

Asajj walked up to one and gently laid her hand on the side of it. "These contain my sisters. There is a burial ritual we perform to honor the dead by bathing their bodies in a sacred pool and placing them in these pods. It is as if they are trapped still alive and suspended between the sky and ground, life and death. With some of the magics known by the Nightsisters they can even be called from the dead to fight. I have seen it happen before." She looked forlorn. Ahsoka figured that since Asajj had spent little time here she was unable to learn a large amount of Nightsister lore.

Asajj could feel the reminder of her hate and pain being emphasized by the dark forces of the planet. It all resurfaced and the tears came unbidden. Ahsoka came up to her and held her in comfort.

"Let it out. Remember what we learned on Malachor. Suppressing emotions is what causes us to lose control. Feel the pain and the hate but also feel the love. They were your sisters and wouldn't want you consumed with the pain of their loss. They loved you Asajj." Ahsoka could feel some of the darkness recede. She still saw the pain on her face but that was to be expected with what had happened and where they were.

"Unfortunately the hate and pain comes with controlling the darkness." She said in an authoritative tone. Asajj reached her hand out to a tree. A snake came out from one of the branches. It slithered on to her outstretched arm. "You need to reach out and command the force. The animal must bend to your will. Feel the anger and hate for what the council did to you. What Barriss did to you."

The snake moved to get close to Asajj's face while trying to attack but froze. Asajj looked into its eyes and commanded it to stop. She let her hate of Dooku, the Jedi, and Savage flow through her and the snake obeyed her.

She then pushed more hatred into it and it thrashed around. "Hatred can be controlled and used against an enemy but too much of it and it will go out of control and cause death. The snake stopped moving and fell to the ground dead.

Ahsoka looked shocked the situation reminded her a lot of the time she was controlled by the son. She did feel hesitation to use such an ability. But at the same time she never wanted to be on the receiving end of such a thing in the future. If she was able to learn it and be able to counter such an ability it would help in the future. She knew this could be a dangerous and slippery slope but she trusted Asajj to pull her out if she went too far.

Asajj found another snake and had it around her arm. She held it toward Ahsoka. "Think about what makes you angry. Truly angry. The Jedi that expelled you from the order."

Ahsoka felt the emotions she had hid for so long. The feelings of betrayal she felt toward the council. She remembered Revan talk about allowing yourself to feel and deal with emotions without bottling them up. She let them loose. Not just the betrayal of the council as a whole but she knew that Obi-Wan and Plo Koon were both on that council. They had been some of her greatest mentors she looked up to. All the time she spent with Yoda helping with young-lings. The conversations she would have with Shaak Ti when she asked about her home when she was younger. Did it mean nothing to them!? She focused the feeling into the snake and it thrashed violently. She wasn't holding back. The power coursed through her. She suddenly pulled back. 'I feel hurt and betrayed. Pain from the Jedi turning on me, but I will not let it control me. I will not let it affect the new life I have.' Ahsoka focused her hate and pain on controlling the snake. She pushed her will onto it and it stopped thrashing and looked into her eyes. She had succeeded in controlling it.

"Good now kill it." Asajj said as if it meant nothing.

Ahsoka whipped her head toward Asajj. "What! I thought you wanted me to control the snake. Not kill it."

"Hesitation to kill is dangerous. That snake in front of you is dangerous and could kill you. If you weren't controlling the snake it would be trying to kill you. When you let that snake go it will hunt and kill many other animals. That snake is a predator and will kill the next person that can't control it. As a Jedi you are taught that life is sacred but the Jedi are selfish. They believe it is sacred but they are not willing to do what is necessary to protect others by taking life. Nute Gunray has been captured by the Jedi around 8 times throughout the war. Yet he escapes to lead armies to conquer more planets. The Jedi are more worried about their own souls. They are too afraid to taint themselves that they forget about people being slaughtered and enslaved by the people they are too afraid to kill. The Jedi are hypocrites." She said solemly.

"Is that why you went with Dooku?" asked Ahsoka.

Asajj glared at her. "Partly. My master fought raiders to protect farmers and got no help from the Jedi. They were too busy making deals with the trade federation to worry about the innocents being slaughtered. They became puppets used by the Republic for their own power. Your master is a perfect example." She smirked.

"Leave Anakin out of this!" Ahsoka shouted.

"Dooku was good at getting information like the fact that your master was a slave to the Hutts before he was freed. That he has had to turn around and use his training to help the Hutts who had enslaved him because they are protected by the Republic. The Jedi wish for peace yet protect slavers and murderers. Killing itself may never be a good thing but if it stops further suffering wouldn't the deaths of a handful of people save many?" Asajj reasoned out.

Ahsoka calmed herself back down. She knew she had killed before and that Asajj was right. She had fought against Deathwatch terrorists that attacked villages for fun of fighting. She had killed several of them and hadn't thought about it. She then thought of the time in Zygeria. Torgrutas taken into slavery for money and power. She felt the snake thrashing through the force. She felt the power through her hate and focused it. In control. Killing was a choice and a responsibility. The Jedi were right life was sacred but their way of fighting only protected themselves. The snake fell limp and died.

She felt arms encircle her and a familiar warmth bring her back to the present. "I'm sorry you had to do that." Ahsoka turned and saw the guilty look in her partner's eyes.

"It's alright. We need to learn more and trust each other. If we want to survive we need to be stronger and we are stronger together with both light and dark." She smiled a little. She felt the power she could control using the dark. "Both love and hate." She kissed Asajj softly before it turned more intense and passionate. The two gave into each other and opened themselves up and felt more trust and love than they ever felt before.

The next morning Ahsoka woke up to an unusual warmth in her bed. She felt the arms slinking around her and remembered who it was. She had ended up in Asajj's room. It was weird that it was here on Dathomir, in the arms of a former Sith that she felt at home for the first time. She allowed herself to feel, to deal with her pain, her sorrow, and betrayal. With the Jedi and even with Anakin she never felt good enough. Like she was always be judged and never measured up because she didn't fit into their box of what they thought she should be like. Even at the temple growing up she was different from the others. She was always headstrong, fierce, and always asked questions. The teachers always disliked that. That was why they only brought in young children so they could be taught and told what is right from the beginning. She wasn't like that and it made her stand out.

Movement brought her out of her memories as Asajj snuggled further into Ahsoka's back. "Good morning." Ahsoka greeted her. All she got back was a mumbled response that was unintelligible. She had learned while traveling that Asajj was not a morning person. All she did was smile and enjoy the feel of the woman burrowing into her back. Yes this was home.

After spending the morning basking in each other's warmth and a quick replay of the past night's activities the two of them got out of bed and left the ship. They made a camp in a clearing on the planet to begin training. It had been awhile since either had dedicated time to train. They both also had new light-sabers to get acclimated too. All that is not even mentioning the books they got from Revan.

They worked on a schedule for training and decided that every morning after waking up they would go for a run or hike through the woods while scouting out and trapping food. Asajj insisted they kept in shape as speed and agility was both of their main points in fighting. After the run they would eat breakfast and spend the rest of the morning going through Revans books and exploring force abilities with both sides and test how emotions could affect them. They would do that until midday and they would stop to eat before practicing with their light-sabers. They would both spend the first half of the afternoon studying new moves and getting used to the feel of them before spending the second half dueling each other. Both were fairly matched as they were both masters of Jar'Kai (Dual bladed combat) already. When they broke off at the end of their duel they would eat before spending the rest of the night talking or going about other business. Ahsoka would call her family every few days to speak with them. She never mentioned what they were doing as she didn't want them to worry or be in danger themselves. Mostly though they would tell stories about their past and the war before going to bed.

Ahsoka enjoyed hearing the viewpoints from the separatist side of the war. While in war the Separatists did plenty of terrible things to enemy planets and fought harshly this was done to try to keep war and fighting away from their own planets. The representatives of the Separatist planets all just wanted to protect their people (or interests and money). It brought her back to the arguments with Lux. He was against the Republic because they were no different than the Separatists. When he tried to join Deathwatch to go after Dooku in revenge and she stopped him because of their actions. She knew she would still fight to protect innocents but she can't really fault him for those actions. He just wanted to do what was best for his planet like everyone else. They really were just two sides fighting a war that both wanted the same thing from. It was a huge shift in Ahsoka's world of good and bad.

Asajj on the other hand didn't have much change in ideology over training and stories. She always fought for herself and now she knew she would fight for the woman she fell asleep next to every night. What had changed for her was the way she felt and lived. She felt lighter and freer when she was with Ahsoka than before. Her entire life had always been dictated by revenge. Revenge against the raiders that killed her master. Revenge against the Jedi for abandoning him. Revenge against Dooku for betraying her. Revenge against Savage for his betrayal. Revenge against Grievous for the death of her sisters. For the first time in her life she had some happiness. She could give up revenge for her partnership and relationship with Ahsoka. It isn't worth the risk. For the first time she was living in the present and not the past.

The training the two underwent had very promising results. They worked on studying more forms of light-saber combat to help predict and counter future enemies while also trying to develop more surprise in their own style by combining others. Asajj combined her Jar'Kai with Makashi form of fighting. A dual bladed style focused on light-saber combat would be deadly and hopefully overwhelm anyone including Dooku in the future. (Just because revenge isn't a priority doesn't mean she gave it up. She didn't change that much.) Ahsoka had originally focused her abilities in form V Shien or Djem So version of blaster deflection. While she still could use that style it worked better with Jar'Kai with a short light-saber rather than two long light-sabers. She switched to combine Jar'Kai with Juyo or the seventh form. She had heard stories about the strength of Jedi Master Mace Windu and his version of Juyo called Vaapad. She hoped that as most Jedi and Sith stay away from this form and know next to nothing about it. It would be a huge advantage in combat as well as her ferocity and passion could be channeled into power behind strikes for the style she wishes to use. The two both were able to gain quite a bit of power and endurance through the continued practice.

They learned a few things when it came to the force over this time as well. There were many abilities focused with different emotions. One large ability that Ahsoka found that she was surprised the Jedi didn't study was the use of force for healing. There had been a large section to study about healing cuts and even internal wounds. The Jedi got so reliant on bacta healing that they neglected this which would be extremely useful in saving lives when separated from supplies. Ahsoka didn't become a master in this ability over such a short time but healing cuts and stopping soreness would allow for better movement.

They also found different variants of force lightning. While there was a force lightning that when channeling hate causes immense pain and damage, they found a study where Revan had channeled different emotions and found that when channeling protectiveness or a defensive mind set the lightning can target a person to numb their nerves and render them unconscious and unable to feel anything for a while rather than targeting the nerves to activate the pain receptors. They even read a case how a variant of force lightning fused with love could restart someone's heart.

Ahsoka and Asajj spent every night together getting closer and closer to each other. Every story, every secret, and every touch brought them trust and understanding. They both became strong, but they were stronger together.

After a month they got up one morning and Asajj had them packing up the camp.

"Where are we going?" Asked a tired Ahsoka that had been hiking for hours.

"You'll see." Said an annoyed Asajj who was getting tired of the same question over and over again. Sometimes Ahsoka really acted like a kid.

They finally reached a clearing after hiking through midday. There had been a lot of scaring and damage in the woods nearby and Ahsoka could see Asajj had grown tense. No words were said as she had taken her partner's hand to calm her. It looked like a fresh battle had been here. Ahsoka figured it must have been where Grievous attacked.

Ahsoka looked up and found a large mountain in her view. The mountain was the biggest she had seen so far and was red like the rest of the planet but what set it apart from the rest was that it had carvings in it. There were several women carved into its side. And while there was damage to it and a few pieces had broken off it still holds strong. On another side there was a single carving of a face. The mouth of the carving was the entrance to the inside of the mountain.

Asajj was returning home.