Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by Disney and Lucasfilm Ltd. The following work is not intended to add to, promote or distort this series. This is a work of fanfiction, and the author does not profit in posting. This is simply a writing exercise written for fun.
He'd had the foreboding feeling about his return the entire trip back from the desert. He'd started grinding his teeth in his sleep again, resulting in an ache around his jaw that lasted most of the day. Even canoodling with the women of the Cloudrunner courts as they passed through their cities did little to distract him. There was no avoiding his melancholy thoughts.
It did not go unnoticed by his men and adoptive brother. Many did their best to avoid the topic of their return, keeping their eyes low when he'd passed by on their ships or avoiding him altogether.
While their efforts were meant to give him space, all it did was make him feel isolated. And that was the very feeling that was brewing in his system; an impending sense of isolation.
A question had been brewing since he'd received the news that his tour was over. One that had formed shortly after the kind words of Demantis had been processed. Try as he might, it was hard to keep the question buried deep inside himself, the voice uttering the dark thought growing louder and louder until it was impossible to ignore. "Gerali." he inquired as the castle came into view on their seventh day of travel.
Turning to him while stroking his beard, his green eyes weary, "Yes, brother?" he asked with hesitation in his voice. It was clear he knew what was coming his way, but was still offering the kindness of permitting Anakin to voice his concerns.
Glancing back towards the castle, the sight of it glowing in the setting sun, Anakin gulped a moment, feeling like a child as he brought thought to word, "Do you think he rigged it?"
Exhaling in exasperation, Gerali shook his head, "Never."
"Why?" Anakin fired back, "I would."
Chuckling, Gerali rested a reassuring hand on Anakin's shoulder, looking him in his crystal blue eyes with wise old green ones, "Because if he could, he'd have done it years ago." While the thought was meant to console him, the notion made him raise his brows high in shock.
"That makes me feel so much better." he replied flatly with a frown as his brother turned towards the hall to make way to exit, "You know, I'd kill just to get on his good side for once… But then someone probably would kill him."
"I'm well aware of that, brother." Gerali chuckled, "Chances are at least a few hundred have already fallen as tribute to that statement alone." Blushing a little, Anakin sighed: Gerali would be no help to him today.
As the landing ramp descended, brother followed brother towards the grand landing platform awaiting the war heroes. Castle Stavo was bustling with Skywalker and ally alike. As nobles and prized warriors from across the globe gathered before him, Anakin sighed.
The impending roar of the selection was tiresome, making the hydro-powered, golden gears that encapsulated the fortress, lining the gray stone, nothing more than a small hiss in the background. Sentients of all kinds stood before him, each descending from one of the forty Drajdai responsible for imprisoning the Shaetin fiends in the core of the world, or their many acolytes. The sheer numbers left him speechless each and every occasion. It made him feel small.
Afterall, he was the only true descendant of Damir Cloudrunner left. The rest of his fallen clan were merely the families of the acolytes of that great warrior. It was the same with every clan.
Following Gerali towards the large door leading into the castle, now spread wide open to permit the influx of arrivals easy entry, Anakin did his best to look proud and confident. Four guards dressed in fine armors stood in a row on each side of the door, a grand display of power by the king meant to impress. Anakin nodded to these poor, likely bored souls as he passed by, and they to him in respect.
As they filed in with the various nobles and warriors already in the cavernous hall, Anakin found himself walking with eyes low. This was not out of respect, however; this was his nerves rising to the surface in a cold wind that made him want to curl in on himself. But lowered eyes would have to do. Those he passed seemed to appreciate whatever they interpreted his gesture to mean, warm smiles on their faces as they nodded "Generals" their way.
After a slow amble through the many in the hall, the receiving chamber doors suddenly appeared, also wide with the sounds of festivities bellowing out of them. Already regretting his return to Brida's interpretation of court, Anakin bit his lower lip in an effort to quell his immensely irritated mind. Sensing his mood shift, Gerali turned his way and offered him a reassuring nod once more as they stepped in the line of those waiting to be recognized by Demantis.
Now behind the king of the distant Wavemaker clan, a people who were aptly named in Anakin's not so humble opinion, Anakin and Gerali waited patiently for their recognition and reception by their king, however muffled it might be in the din that was the overflowing hall. Entertainers bumped into them twice, apologizing to the princes aptly before returning to their shows of skill with blades and rings of many kinds.
The second time, one of the only other three golden warriors turned round to give him an unimpressed glare. He was Chiss, much like most of his tribe, making his glare especially effective, save for the fact that Anakin was far more nervous about the ceremony tomorrow night than any possibility of throwing down with an equal warrior. Part of him actually relished the idea of a good fight to help him release the tension his breathing techniques could not reach.
"Kisteth Waker." Anakin nodded to the man, who was nothing more than a determined footsoldier at the beginning of his career.
"Anakin Windrider." he nodded back, his glare subsiding as he noted that the man was not as irritable as he appeared, "I'm surprised to see you here given your work aiding the Cloudrunners with their Sandthreader problem."
"The only real problem is that they've expanded into dangerous territory." Anakin sighed, "Perhaps with more diplomacy between Cloudrunner factions, my efforts would not have been needed."
That comment seemed to shock both Kisteth and Gerali, who turned to him with a slight smirk, "Impressive assessment of the situation." Gerali teased, "It almost sounds like something the princess would say."
Grinning slightly as the conversation grew, Kisteth inquired, "Is she truly as remarkable as they say? Rumor has it that she has earned the trust of the Treedwellers without much effort."
Nodding, Anakin assured the Chiss, "Princess Shmi is skilled in the art of diplomacy. She is apt to learn about others and shows sincerity in all interaction. It comes as no surprise to any of our clan that she accomplished this. She will likely be our greatest and most beloved queen when her time comes."
"Such news is excellent change for these ears." Kisteth admitted with a toothy grin, "It is high time we have benevolent leaders on this wretched planet, ones the opposite of our forefathers."
"Agreed." Gerali sighed, "Watching my father fall victim to the lights was strenuous enough without enduring his edicts." The three men all nodded solemnly, not wishing to shame or upset the souls connected to their blood. "Many still speak of the day he fell on the battlefield with mixed emotions."
Kisteth glanced towards the acting king of the Skywalker with a quizzical brow, "I too know that pain. The last chief and I were as brothers, on and off the battlefield. His madness in achieving the golden status was painful to watch and hard to reign in. It keeps me sparing in all that I do." He then turned back towards Anakin with respect, "A restraint rumor claims you share, having watched two golden fathers fall."
"I'm fortunate to have only experienced the lapse of one." Anakin corrected the man, "But the lessons of both follow me in sun and moonlight. It keeps me hoping that the selection skips all those like us, sparing us that eventual madness for as many years as possible."
"Indeed." Kisteth sighed.
In that moment, the Chiss Wavemakers arrived to the front of the line, forcing them to turn with courteous nods before presenting themselves to King Demantis and Queen Brida. While Anakin was relieved to find a kinsman in his woes, he was disappointed to find Sarantis seated with a far off expression beside his mother. The look on his face showed the boy trapped in a nightmare. He found himself wondering where Shmi was sent to prevent his rescue.
Frowning as Shmi poured over record after record in Gerali's tower of the castle, the many mirrored faces of his personal vault displaying her solemness as she drew yet another holochron from the depths of the Skywalker's ancient record. "Come on Asha." she hissed, "You have to have the answer somewhere."
Her conversation with Sara left her with concerns of her own, ones that required investigation, something far more tedious since her scholar uncle had yet to return. While she was able to access his private collection, she was unaware of his organization of it, with some of his records written in a language she didn't even recognize. "Damn!" she fumed in frustration as she sat back against another mirrored panel.
As she watched that fully investigated drawer pull back into the wall, she curled around her legs and meditated, both releasing her tension and seeking guidance from the voice of all worlds. "I promise Sara, I'll find some way to keep you safe."
The boy's nightmare tore at her heartstrings, him panicked at the very thought of not having Anakin and Gerali at his side. My shield and sword were gone all of a sudden, their kind voices far away. While his recount of the shadows that attacked him sounded just like Shaetin, Shmi was certain that they represented those close to him turning on him: making him just like them.
Slamming her fist into the floor to rid herself of that final breath of frustration, Shmi shouted into her legs. "Damnit!"
Yet, as she caught her breath, she heard the familiar sound of mechanical whirring pulling her eyes towards that mirrored panel she'd struck. Surprised, she fell on her knees and turned to watch yet another storage unit pull itself from the floor, three more holochrons glowing brightly inside of it.
Confused, she reached for the top one, only to have it disconnect itself and float into the center of the room. As it centered itself in the room, the ends of the holochron split itself, the remaining walls following as a figure appeared in the room. She was smaller than Shmi, her image merely half the size of the average human, her hair a dark chestnut brown, even in the holochron, and her eyes glowed in an unsettling way.
"Entry 574: Dreams and Prognostication." the legendary Asha began, her image crisp and clear as though she were standing before Shmi herself, "Some years ago I was gifted with the birth of my second child. My son, clearly strong with the Force, struggles to sleep through the night at the young age of nine. Investigations revealed he has inherited the gift of foresight, his visions arriving to him through the Force during deep sleep and rousing him. While I am left standing at his side each night, pouring reassurance in the Force to quell him, I find myself wondering how to best prepare him for the inevitable pains to come. This task is even more daunting, given my growing lack of compassion in this hostile environment."
Sighing, Shmi pulled her cloak closer to her, chilled by the luck given her in this crucial time. "Some of our young are cursed with foresight naturally, where the visions appear as mere nightmares, most often dismissed as just that. As they grow, these visions become clearer, more concise, and often prompting irrational action by the child or even the adult in their efforts to prevent that which is often inevitable. For those living on Advorosia, this gift is often intensified due to the collected prisoners we guard. The shadows below the ground create an uneven tension in the Force, to which many users instinctively grow into new gifts to guard against them."
She then paused and turned away, likely glancing at a sleeping child in the room with her that the holochron did not capture. Satisfied that whatever had disturbed her was not an issue, she returned to her disclosure, "The most difficult task in dealing with those gifted with prognostication is assuring them that these events are not inevitable: they are merely the Force warning them of an outcome soon to occur due to a dark action taken by them. While it is risky to overgeneralize this topic, less than 20% of documented visions occur due to inaction of the seer. 50% of this margin involved dreams where inaction was the warning presented in the vision. The remaining 10% are visions where one capable Force user has connected with the plight of another."
With eyes wide, Shmi sat back and thought about those statistics, wondering what she should do with the information as Asha continued on, "It is my personal hypothesis that those capable of great light in the galaxy are generally the ones gifted with this ability. My compatriots rebuff this idea, suggesting that my pride in my children is what formed the conclusion in the first place. Naturally, I disagree, due to long term studies I've enacted in trying to find a way to protect my son. I have noted that, while gift might seem a curse, in truth, it benefits the user so long as they understand the gift."
Smiling, Asha nodded to herself, "I believe that the light of the Force is reaching out to these individuals, attempting to guide them away from darkness by warning of that inevitable decision coming their way. Yet, as benevolent as the gift might seem, many Force users do not interpret these dreams in this way, acting in ways that cause the outcome in their visions and darkening themselves in their desperation to prevent the event."
Taking a deep breath, the famous Drajdai added, "It is important that this fact be presented to those with these gifts. Theirs is a special light which must be protected by the reassurance of those close to them." And, with a slight flicker, the image died. In mere seconds, the glowing holochron reassembled and inserted itself inside the storage unit.
Slowly standing, Shmi took a deep breath and calmed herself: her luck was powerful and she thanked the worlds' spirits for it. The ancient term for the worlds aura, the Force, had always been kind to her, but she believed that this was due to the fact that she strived to add goodness into the Force around her at all times. It wasn't easy, but moments such as these proved these efforts beneficial.
Turning about and exiting the vault, Shmi walked slowly down the spiraling stairs towards the main antechamber of Gerali's offices. While his trainees continued to loom over panels of information, she plotted the exact words she needed to reassure her little brother. Her exit from the tower was relatively unnoticed, as was her entry hours before.
Knowing that, by now, the halls below were likely filled to the brim with nobles and warriors from all over the globe, Shmi straightened her hair, re-affixing her many golden clips adorned with pearls befitting a princess. She was relieved to find her extra long, embroidered tunic, was not rumpled and creased due to her work in the tower. Even her slippers garnered her attention, them being the main focus of hers as she descended the stairs towards the pleasure gardens her mother had cherished in life.
As expected, the silver and gold warriors had congregated here, the majority of them conversing ominously as they stood in rings of four or five in the many clearings of the garden. While few took note of her, the majority of them were so deep in discussions regarding the seal of the Shaetin, she reckoned a downpour in the gardens wouldn't stir them.
"Reports indicate that the seal is weakening." A rodian silver warrior warned in his native tongue, "The last twelve selections have only yielded silver warriors, it's about time a golden warrior takes on the challenge!"
A human with long, braided blond hair refuted him with his unusually deep voice, "A golden warrior wouldn't make a difference!" he then added with a frown on his dark face, "The missing light is the real issue: we need the judging light. That would keep the Shaetin at bay."
Frowning at the thought of anyone once more yielding that infamous light, Shmi made her way towards the halls where the nobles had wandered. While she received recognition here, with any and every faction nodding at her passing in respect, their attention was anything but assuring. She found herself fearing what she would find in the room her father dwelled in.
Yet, the doors did appear and through them she did go.
It was as she'd expected: Anakin and Gerali stood before the king with a tense air reverberating around the room. While Sara stood by, his mother placed an unnecessary, protective arm over him. Yet, she found herself surprised as both Anakin and Gerali took a knee.
An action that seemed to please her father; "Welcome home my faithful generals!" her father decreed, "I am glad to see that you were granted safe passage through Cloudrunner pass and that the Sandthreaders were far too weak to stand against the Skywalker clan!" The show continued on as the many guards present in the room cheered, their noise punctuated by the applause of the visiting nobles.
Relieved to see that Anakin had kept his mouth shut for once, despite whatever suspicions he might have dwelling in his sharp mind, Shmi made her way through the crowd to greet those returning. As she passed by, Shmi glanced sorrowfully towards her brother, unsure of how to rescue him from the clutches of his overbearing mother.
As both Gerali and Anakin were dismissed, Shmi found the most direct path towards them. As Shmi had passed, however, Terio Icequescer stepped into her path. While she was frustrated, this was hardly the time to show it. Terio was a young lord from a large citadel in the north of the continent. Roughly her age, he'd amassed a great fortune mining from the rich grounds beneath him. His people heralded him a savior, as his enterprise, now only two years old, created a trading economy that spared them from starvation.
Shmi was well aware of his accomplishments, which made passing him by seem inappropriately rude, even if she wanted to dash straight over to her uncles. "Lord Icequescer." she nodded politely, "How wonderful to see you attending this year's selection."
Smiling and nodding back, the bright blond man retorted with a voice like silk, "Hardly… It is merely humbling to be in your presence, dear princess. Rumors of you spread far and fast." While his near black eyes appraised her with slight inappropriateness, Shmi did her best to stay her place as he continued, "Your beauty, however, has been vastly understated."
"You are too kind." Shmi replied, a slight and uncontrollable flush growing on her cheeks as she spoke. "Such words are a great compliment from one such as yourself."
"Beautiful, bold and humble." Terio teased her, his grin spreading wide over his face, an expression that likely had earned him the role of heart-breaker in many other courts. "Stavo's castle truly does hold Advorosia's greatest treasure." Shmi did nothing more than fidget at the compliment: while she was used to these comments, having them come from someone on par with her father made the situation unusually uncomfortable.
"Indeed." Came the familiar and stern voice of a wondrous savior. She turned to find Anakin, his curled and golden hair falling over his face as he glared towards the lord with cold eyes, "And proper… Far too proper to inform a neighboring lord when his leering eyes have seen enough."
Chuckling, Terio shrugged, "I can't help but speak my mind Windrider… Something I hear you do quite well." he then turned back towards Shmi, grabbing her hand to lay a kiss upon it with a questionable glance to her, "Till another time, fair princess."
As he strode away, Shmi let free a sigh of relief and turned towards Anakin, finding him still glaring angrily at the man as he disappeared into the crowd. "Thank you." she told him, only to receive no response as he spinned towards the opposing door and vanished. "Anakin?" As his massive and strong form also dissipated between socialites, Shmi crossed her arms in discomfort.
"What's wrong with him?" She inquired, sensing her uncle approach.
With a grunt of displeasure, Gerali rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "It isn't something you've done… or even what that Icequescer boy has said: he's very much afraid of this year's selection." Turning back towards the bearded, wise man, Shmi felt her heart freeze in her chest.
"I am too." she admitted as fanfare sounded for the arrival of the Grand Seer.
The whole room went silent, the crowds parting widely as an assortment of guards, one from each of the forty tribes, paraded into the hall. With each donning the armor representative of their tribe, Shmi smiled at the sight of her cousin Suma, who was sent to the seer last year.
Turning towards Gerali, Shmi smiled, "Uncle Uthias should be pleased." She watched as the man nodded, his eyes instinctively turning towards where his twin stood in the room, likely suppressing as much emotion as possible to maintain his poise.
As the guards broke to stand at various points of vantage around the room, Suma took his post beside her father, his height clearly much greater than the last time he was home. With his dark brown eyes staring forward into the crowd, he made no single motion as the seer stepped free of her cloaked seat, her face covered in silks and sheer materials.
Yet, as the small woman's feet padded down the carpet, a small shout did cry and a young body leaped into the air from the thrones, dagger in hand. Shmi watched in horror as Sara's tear stricken face neared that of the seer.
Yet, he stopped in mid air, unable to move.
When the boy was set down, his dagger tossed aside towards one of the forty guards, the previously silent dignitaries began shouting. Shmi glanced up to her parents, both stricken silent at what had just befallen them. She pushed them through the worlds aura to act.
The cries of outrage demanded reaction: "Prince Sarantis just attempted to take the life of the seer!" "Without the seer, we cannot divine the selection!" "What was the boy thinking?" "He should be put to death!" That last statement, edicted by none other than the boy's own grandfather, King Ospra Cloudrunner himself, brought action from his guards.
As the towering, silver clad guards stepped into the center of the ring, Shmi glanced towards the throne to see her father rise, his face furious. Yet she could not hear his words. It was as if the world was frozen and all she could see was the electrostaffs being drawn on her brother. She was seemingly struck dumb.
And in the next moment… a red cloud overcame the whole of the hall. The Cloudrunner guards levitated over the ground, their limbs contorting in pain as flecks of black and purple fell from their skin, seemingly burning within the red cloud until nothing more than embers. If they were screaming, she could not hear it.
She could not feel anything… not a sensation for some time.
Then, like an explosion of realization, the cries of the crowd blasted in her ears, the whole of the room moving at tempo as the guards and lords and ladies all turned their attention to her. "It's a conspiracy!" shouted Ospra, "The prince and princess aim to destroy the very sanctions of peace in our society!"
Wondering what the fool meant, Shmi turned towards her uncles, horrified to see that they too were as dumbstruck as she. Still startled, she turned back towards her crying brother, amazed to find that her hand was outstretched in his direction. Even Anakin, standing at the front of the far crowd, likely having dashed out to protect Sara, stood in horror.
"At last." The ancient seer's weathered and wise voice called from under her veil, "The judging light returns to Advorosia."
Trembling as the crowd whispered in awe, Shmi lowered her hand and uttered silently the only word she could think of, "No!"
Author's Note: Hi everyone! I know it has been a while, but I certainly hope the wait was worth it. I've found myself really wanting to work on this story at the moment. I'd love to hear what you think! A lot has happened in this chapter, so don't forget to review!
