A/N: Okay, so, it's been pretty boring in Shaak Ti's life. So, just to keep those of you who are waiting for the action in, I'll be throwing in a little time skip-plus an epic battle! XD Yeah, didn't see that one comin', huh? Well, this is now after Maris's training is all done, about two years later, and Shaak Ti is just telling her she's done. Yays. Now read.
Shaak Ti ducked low, carefully avoiding Maris's strike as she watched for another one from her physical body. Sure enough, Maris threw a kick at her while she was down, and Shaak Ti was forced to jump back. She stood up straight, brought her lightsaber to guard, and allowed Maris to take the offensive position again. Maris took the lead, flying right back into the battle and attacking Shaak Ti head-on. As she slashed, swerved, dipped, dodged, and stabbed, Shaak Ti could observe Maris's technique. It was beautiful, refined: their many practices had done her well. It had taken two and a half years to get to this point, but it was worth every moment of it. Maris's father had grown on Shaak Ti after a month or two of training, and soon welcomed her in his house as a regular visitor. Shaak Ti found herself quickly becoming part of the Brood family, and fought the attachment it presented. But, as she fought more and more, she just found herself challenging the ideals the former Order held. Was it truly right to deny oneself all attachment? Could that really be the key? No, Shaak Ti concluded. It was simply know when and where to show such attachment, when to feel it. It was a matter of leaving your work at work, and leaving your home at home.
Shaak Ti never taught Maris the traditional Jedi ways.
She instead paved her own path, teaching Maris based on the current principles she and Qui-Gon spent hours in discussion over. Even in the spirit realm, he was his same old self. It never ceased to amaze Shaak Ti how much a person's personality could completely do it for them. Qui-Gon really had a lot going for him…
"Master?"
Shaak Ti snapped back to the present, realizing again her current situation. "Your eyes," Maris said. "You zoned out."
"Good observation, Maris," Shaak Ti said. "But, what else clued you in?"
"Your position and form lost its polish," Maris said automatically. "You began to look away from me, and your lekku were twitching." Shaak Ti disengaged from the fight, glancing down worriedly at her long, flexible lekku.
"They were?" she asked, dismayed. She gently poked one, sparking another twitch. She sighed. "Well, at least you've got that down. I think we're done for today." Maris looked confused. She glanced at Shaak Ti curiously, but deactivated her lightsaber and offered Shaak Ti the customary bow. Shaak Ti returned the gesture, but she still looked distant as she deactivated her blade and clipped it to her belt. Suddenly, she said, "Maris, you clean up. I need to speak with your parents for a few moments."
Maris nodded, and began moving around the basement. It had gradually acquired more furniture as the Broods became more and more trusting of Shaak Ti-and as Maris increased in skill and grew into her long legs. Shaak Ti found that Maris was tripping a lot less-thankfully. How humiliating was it for a Jedi to be trying to impress someone, and end up flat on their face?
"Yes, Master Ti?"
Maris's father met Shaak Ti in the kitchen. As Shaak Ti turned to look at him, she could see that his expression was slightly troubled. "You looked worried, Master Ti," he said gruffly, not used to showing concern for another. "Or, no, not worried…more like distant, I suppose. Elsewhere. Tell me, where have those black eyes travelled this time?"
"Your Crown Molding."
Maris's father gave a chuckle at Shaak Ti's joke. "Really, now, Master," he said, walking out from behind the kitchen counter to stand a bit closer to Shaak Ti. "You clearly weren't concentrating on much today; anything on your mind in particular that's troubling you?"
Shaak Ti shook her head slowly, still staring into space. She was silent for a moment more, and Maris's father still said nothing. He had learned it was better not to push Shaak Ti, or she would only become more distant.
"Maris is ready."
Maris's father's brows came together again. "Pardon?"
"She no longer requires my instruction."
The man looked surprised. "Oh," he said slowly. "Well, uh…I suppose…um…wow, okay, um, is there anything we really need to do…to make this official…?"
Shaak Ti shook her head. "Not anymore," she said softly. "She is now old enough and mentally and physically prepared to meet a Sith in battle. I have sensed them brewing for days-Vader seeks my blood, but he himself will not risk my blade, plus that of my Padawan's. He will send a desperate pawn of considerable power…and I have known this from a friend. He resides in the spirit realm, having died long ago. He told me he would be coming for me tomorrow. And I cannot remain here."
Maris's father was struggling to keep up, but not doing very well. Shaak Ti decided to make it simple for him.
"Tomorrow, I die. And Maris takes my place to hold Felucia in the Light."
OOOOOOOOOOOO
Shaak Ti decided not to tell Maris about the day tomorrow signified. She simply told her her training was complete, and gave her a set of Jedi robes. She would fit them now-they used to be Shaak Ti's, and Maris now rivaled her master in height and stature. They even had relatively the same body type. Shaak Ti then went back home-but not to her house. She went to meditate by the Sarlaacs.
Many would call her crazy: Shaak Ti was the only person who dared go near the pits where the Giant Sarlaacs nested. The huge creatures that lay mostly below the surface, with only their gaping maws visible, were terrifying to any normal, sane person. Well, normal, anyway. Shaak Ti wasn't sure if she even qualified as normal at this point. She had come to the conclusion that she had been slowly losing her sanity over the course of these years on Felucia. Having to sleep with one hand on your lightsaber, which you kept under your pillow at night, would do that to a person. Shaak Ti, however, could see herself as insane even before the massacre that had taken place, ending the Clone Wars. The war itself might have done that to her.
Or maybe she was never sane.
It was always a possibility, and it never really bothered Shaak Ti. As long as she wasn't doing anything too humiliating, she could live with herself. Maris's father had once asked her how she slept at night, knowing that she had taken lives, started a war, participated in a war, and done some of the most horrible things he could imagine. Shaak Ti had just shook her head, and murmured, "I can't anymore. Because I know." And she had never said anything more on the matter, and Maris's father had never asked. Maris herself asked Shaak Ti the same question, and Shaak Ti simply replied that she had never taken a life if she had any other alternative, and it was not she who started the war. She refused to speak any more on the subject, and Maris never asked again. Her mother never asked, period.
Shaak Ti now hovered above a Sarlaac's mouth, hands palm up on her knees. Her eyes were close din concentration. The beast below her shifted and groaned, but Shaak Ti barely shuddered at the guttural sound. It mattered not to her what this stationary monster could do. Instead, she focused on the forest around her: every rustle of a leaf, every snap of a carnivorous plant, every stomp of an animal's hoof or paw-Shaak Ti could hear it all, and se it in her mind's eye. She could also hear footsteps-the footsteps of a human, not a deer or other animal. She slowly maneuvered herself back to floating barely an inch over the ground, a few feet away from the Sarlaacs. If she had to fight, she didn't want to be stuck right above a hungry Sarlaac. The only reason she came here was because no one else dared.
Footsteps, and a definite swirl of darkness. Shaak Ti stiffened, and slowly pulled herself out of her hibernation-like state. Something approached, and it was not of the light. Shaak Ti climbed to her feet, eyes opening and lightsaber springing to hand. Shaak Ti did not ignite the blade, though: she didn't' want to give this human a warning. Her montrals and lekku were quickly gathering information: he was hostile, and he was working for Vader. Shaak Ti could sense his thoughts as easily as if she were reading a book. Pathetic, if he could not block his mind from intrusion.
Shaak Ti could see him with her eyes now: a tall, dark-haired man-no, not man; a boy-approaching her. He halted at the edges of the pits, in Makashi opening stance. Shaak Ti sensed that this was the man she had been waiting for-no, the boy, she corrected herself again. She adopted the stance, and then offered a formal salute. The male returned it, and the duel began.
"Jedi Master Shaak Ti," the man began, slowly advancing to her. "My name is Starkiller, and I have been sent by Darth Vader, master of the Sith to destroy you."
But, instead of cowering, Shaak Ti smiled benignly. "Ah, dear young Anakin," she said, almost as if lost. "Such a headstrong, eager young boy-he destroyed himself, you know. That mindless shell of a man is no longer Anakin, nor is he Vader. I don't even think he himself knows who he is. He left himself in Palpatine's office, so many years ago."
At first, Starkiller looked confused. But then, his face twisted into recognition. "You horrorid witch!" he screamed, abruptly charging her. "You dare insult my master!"
Shaak Ti blocked his first strike easily, reaching under their crossed blades and delivering him a vicious punch. Starkiller flew back, landing on the ground a few feet away and looking quite stunned. "He said you were an easy victim," he gasped, pulling himself into a sitting position. "He said you were a weak, spineless coward!"
"Did he?" Shaak Ti purred, her voice uncharacteristically sadistic. "Well, then, I have a message for Vader: he may come and judge my skills by how mangled your body is."
Starkiller suddenly looked only angry again. "Vader says I am as strong as him!" he cried, getting to his feet and rushing her again. Shaak Ti met his attack with several defense-offense moves, and succeeded in burning his shoulder within the first five blows. She was rather disappointed-this was all Vader's star apprentice amounted to?
"Vader's assassin, are you prepared to meet your fate?"
Starkiller's teeth grit as she felt Shaak Ti's blade skim his shoulder. "You are a formidable opponent," he grudgingly admitted. "But, fortunately, I myself am more powerful than you could have ever imagined." The boy took a step back, one hand coming off his saber's hilt. Shaak Ti felt a sudden surge in the dark side of the Force, and immediately raised her own hand to counter. A violent clash ensued as two trees came together between the two, sending wood and splinters everywhere. Shaak Ti made sure to dodge all of hers-Starkiller got several lodged in the arms he threw up to protect his face and chest.
"Amateur."
Shaak Ti was in Starkiller's face in an instant, attacking with such ferocity she surprised herself. She had never really been like this, had she…? Well, not since her prime. Shaak Ti's strikes, though, were elegantly met this time, and either slid off Starkiller's blade or blocked fully. The male even managed to throw a few strikes back into her face, but Shaak Ti's elegant, one-handed fighting style didn't even allow him to get more than a hair's breadth closer than the outer edge of her saber. Her Makashi had years and years of training in it, plus years and years of experience. Starkiller's just didn't compare. Shaak Ti could see the frustration in Starkiller's eyes as she thwarted him effortlessly time, and time again. He could see her grace, her beauty, her skill with a blade-and it bothered him.
He would never attain that. And he drew upon the dark side to compensate.
Shaak Ti could feel his fury, his anger, his frustration, and she could hardly believe one human could possibly contain that much hatred. She began to see pieces of his thoughts, through the Force that flowed between them. Vader, scolding him for failing to kill her once. His first mission as a Sith apprentice. His first discover of the Sith. His first realization that he wanted to be one; could be one. Shaak Ti was seeing piece after piece of the puzzle, and it was slowly coming together.
"Killing me will prove nothing," Shaak Ti inserted, into a lull between exchanges. She was surprised by Starkiller's actual skill: she had not encountered anything like him in years. But it wasn't like she was out of shape, or unpracticed. She had practiced every single day, without fail, for every day she had been on this planet. She couldn't allow herself to slip up. She had been preparing for such a day as this one.
"You will be a true loss to the forces you represent," Shaak Ti continued.
Starkiller attacked her again, and the battle raged on.
A/N: Well, here ya go! I decided to make it up to you by updating twice in a week or so…since all of you reviewers out there have been so great to me. Review, please!!
