Hey, Butterflies! I'm back with Chapter 8! Can you all believe that I have nine chapters posted, including this one? I've had so much fun writing this story, and I cannot wait to start the next one, but it might be a while before I actually get to it. Blondiebugsie and I are currently working through some roadblocks that will affect how the next story plays out, but those of you who have added me to their Author Alerts will get a notification once I post it. That's all I have for now, so let's get started!
Disclaimer: Star Wars belongs to Disney.
Upon taking a closer look at the figure, Desara sees that it is covered by a long white robe with its hood up. The robe touches the ground yet has not a single speck of dirt on it, and the robe's sleeves cover the hands of the person underneath; the hood, like Desara's, conceals the figure's face from view. Trying to determine the gender of the figure is impossible, even from the voice.
"Welcome, visitors, to Alderaan." There is something to the figure's gentle voice that calms Desara. No, this person is clearly not the person of her visions. "I see you have the future princess with you." Desara's brow furrows. Princess? She is definitely not a princess, not now not ever. But how did the person know who she was? Perhaps xe simply saw her face before she threw her hood up.
"You! Tell me what in the name of Jango Fett himself, is Alderaan still doing here! The Imps blew it up over thirty years ago!" Voltan fails to keep his anger and frustration under control. It ruins the aura of the surroundings. Next, the figure asks Desara, Voltan, and Eviowh to follow xe. As the figure turns to lead the group, xe notices Desara's lack of a lightsaber. The air grows stiff with tension that Desara can feel even with the Force inhibitors in her system. She lowers her gaze to the ground; she knows she does not have a Loth-cat in this fight.
"Where is the future princess's lightsaber?" the figure asks.
"What lightsaber? She had no lightsaber when we cap- rescued, when we rescued her," Eviowh explains.
"Because you definitely rescued the future princess and then put her in stun cuffs. Seems perfectly logical, NOT." Slowly, Desara begins edging her way away from the arguing three. She has to find her lightsaber. What good is a Jedi without a lightsaber? Punt this whole princess and bounty hunter thing, she needs to find the Trials. She cannot search for forever, and so far, she has only had one Trial: the Trial of Spirit; she does not even know if she passed.
As soon as she is out of sight, Desara breaks into a sprint back to the bounty hunters' ship. All she has to do is find her lightsaber, and this whole mess can end; she can find the Trials and move on with her life. Desara begins pulling everything in sight out of place and desperately searching for her lightsaber. When she cannot find it anywhere on the ship, she races back to where she last saw the figure and the two bounty hunters. What she spies will scar her and haunt her for the rest of her life. The figure's hand is outstretched, and the two bounty hunters are dangling up in the air, choking.
"What is going on here?" The fear is evident in Desara's voice. She has no idea what is happening before her. The figure immediately lowers its hand, and the two bounty hunters drop the ground, gasping for air. The figure gives no response. "I asked what is going on." Desara is not joking, but the seriousness of the question is being negated by the tremble in her voice.
"I was simply trying to learn the whereabouts of your lightsaber, future princess." Desara sighs.
"Not like that. I may not have many social skills, but even I know that you don't choke people when you're trying to get information." Desara takes a moment to collect her words before speaking again, this time to the bounty hunters. "If you two would kindly tell me where my lightsaber is, it would be most appreciated." The sentence is sophisticated for Desara, but she also picked up on a more formal way to speak after spending time with RĂ©. This new way of speaking is not perfect, but Desara will make it work. The bounty hunters, who have since gotten to their feet, refuse to tell Desara where her lightsaber is, not until after they receive their payment. The figure in the white cloak extends xe's hand, but lowers it when Desara glowers at xe. Suddenly, another figure, this one cloaked in black, approaches the group of four.
"You actually brought the prisoner. Impressive, most impressive." Desara's mind flashes back to her reflections during the Trial of Spirit. Black and white. But who's who? "Here is your payment," the new figure says curtly. Voltan stares down the new figure and demands to know how he can trust this figure in black. "Because I speak for Feardorcha. Here is your payment, now leave, before I change my mind." This new figure waves a hand and in one fell swoop chokes the life right out of the two bounty hunters. Desara is unsure of what scarred her more: seeing the figure in white choking the bounty hunters or seeing the figure in black kill the bounty hunters. She does not know whom to truth.
"Future princess, will do you go with me to retrieve your lightsaber from these thugs' ship?" the figure in white asks.
"NO! Feardorcha bought her from those bounty hunters, so she goes with me!" the figure in black, ze's hood up, snarls. Feeling as if she is being pulled left and right by these two quarrelling figures, Desara begins to shake. No! I will get control over this! I have to. Taking a few deep breaths, Desara starts to gain control over her reaction, and she soon has complete control over it. She does not know what causes that reaction or what it means, but that is not her main concern. At this moment in time, her main concern is choosing whether she should run for it or go with one of the two cloaked figures before her. Her mind flicks back to the Trial of Spirit, when she had to face a similar situation. Her reflection in white had tricked her, and who is to say that the figure in white not going to trick her as well. Yet, the figure in black killed the bounty hunters, something that her reflection in black probably would not have done. Things are just getting to be too complicated for Desara. She might as well just run.
"Don't even think about it," the figure in the black cloak growls. From the sound of the figure's voice, it is a male, but Desara is unable to identify the species. It takes Desara a moment to think, but she soon figures out what she wants to do. She turns the the figure she has chosen as her guide.
"I will go with you and meet Feardorcha, whoever xi may be." the figure in the black cloak makes a pleased sound.
"Wise choice, Jedi." With the flick of his wrist, the stun cuffs that adorned Desara's wrists not long ago, are back on her wrists and latched securely. Maybe this was not such a good decision.
Desara and the figure begin walking in the direction whence the figure originally came. Desara wishes she knew where they are going, but she figures she should keep her mouth shut. After all, this is the person who killed the bounty hunters. Who knows what else he is capable of doing. Personally, Desara would rather not find out the answer to that.
After a long walk in utter silence as dawn breaks in the Alderaan sky, the figure and Desara, both wearing space dark cloaks of black, approach a large metallic palace. Desara looks unsurely at the palace and then to the figure. Why does she feel so uncertain? This was her mother's home, yet Desara feels so scared, as if she better off not knowing what lay ahead. Sharply, Desara pulls back and resists going any closer to the looming palace.
"What are you doing, Jedi?" the figure demands in a menacing hiss.
"I-I can't. I can't go in there. I have a bad feeling about this"
"You can and will, you Jedi scum." With a hard shove, the figure forces Desara onward. Several more times Desara tries to keep from moving forward, but each time the figure forces her onward. Finally, the last time she resists, he whips out his lightsaber, activates it, holds it to Desara's throat, and shakes his head as if to say,"Stop one more time, and I'll take my lightsaber to you without a second thought." That ensures that Desara will not stop again.
The two in black continue to press forward, eventually entering the palace and taking a lift up to the throne room. The entire ride up, the figure maintains a deathly tight grip on Desara's left arm. As if the stun cuffs are not enough to remind Desara of her current position, the figure has to emphasize it with his grip. Desara wishes he would just let go, but she knows that he will not, and she is not stupid enough to ask.
At long last, the lift arrives at the level with the throne room, so the two disembark. Upon entering the throne room, Desara spies a large black chair with its back facing the entrance.
"I've brought her. Take her, but don't forget to give me my share."
"My apprentice, have I ever forgotten your share?" a new voice replies.
"I am not your apprentice." With that, the figure turns to leave.
"Wait," the new voice commands, and the figure halts. "Give this to her. Clip it to belt so that she may have a chance." The figure approaches Desara, who holds her breath instinctively. Next, the figure extends his hand and draws an unidentifiable object to himself before going to Desara's left and looking for something on her belt.
"Warning, she's a lefty," the figure declares and he goes to Desara's right and clips the object to her belt. Then he turns and leaves without another word. Desara glances down at her right hip and almost smiles; it is her lightsaber.
Desara clears her throat and stands up straight. "Are- are you Feardorcha?" she asks. The chair does not even turn slightly.
"I am, and you are Desara Faith Solo, daughter of Leia Organa and Han Solo, and niece to Jedi Headmaster Luke Skywalker. You were born on Naboo during a time of violence, and your father left you in your uncle's arms as an infant in hopes of protecting you. Your uncle took you to Maldofy to train you to be a Jedi, and you are searching for the Trials to become a knight." Shock fills Desara.
"How-how did you know that? No one-" Desara stops talking for a second as Feardorcha's words sink in. "My master is my uncle?"
"Yes, but you have had no idea because he wanted to protect you. It is such a shame, though, that all his efforts are in vain. Just think of it: the entire Solo and Skywalker lines erased from the galaxy, and all because of some teenage girls' carelessness."
"My carelessness? What- what carelessness?" Desara asks, oblivious to the plurality of Feardorcha's statement
"You are here, but it was your carelessness and your naivety that brought you here." Again, Feardorcha's words settle in Desara's mind.
"The Solo and Skywalker lines erased? You're going to kill me!" Desara begins backing towards the door until she finds her back against the wall.
"No one ever said I would be the one to kill you, my dear."
"Please, I'm just a teenager. I promise I won't tell anyone. Just let me go find the Trials." Let me find my family.
"Why go the Trials when you could bring the Trials to yourself?" The chair spins around so that the occupant can face Desara. Desara gasps in horror. "Yes! Look upon the face of the second Emperor! Look upon the face of me, Feardorcha, while you still can, little girl!" Desara tries desperately to step back as Feardorcha approaches her, but her back is completely against the wall. She starts crying as fear consumes her. Feardorcha is now less than a meter away from her and getting closer. Desara stops fighting and gives up. Feardorcha is within reaching distance. He strokes Desara's cheek. "There, there, future princess. All will be all right." Still sobbing, Desara stares up in the eyes of Feardorcha, the man in the white cloak from before.
And that's Chapter 8! I hope you all enjoyed reading it because I know for certain that I enjoyed writing it. Also, the next chapter might be triggering to some people because of its violence, so if you are worried that you may be triggered by it, PLEASE DO NOT read it; I'll recap at the end. No chapter is worth sacrificing your mental wellbeing. In addition to that, if any part of this chapter triggered you, please let me know. My wish for you is that you enjoy reading Desara's story, but if something triggered you, and there was no warning, let me know. Don't be embarrassed, please. I have triggers too, so I understand where you are coming from. Please, love yourselves. I love you all dearly, and I am so lucky to have all of your as readers! Thank you for reading! Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review.
