Disclaimer: I'm a teacher which means that I don't earn much. Please don't sue me. :)
Merry Christmas to everyone! In this chapter we turn to the fallen Jedi again, who accompanies the two Sith for a ride in the mountains. Is there still hope for her? :)
Cassie
ooooooooooooooooooo CAP. XXV – A Whiff of HopeFour days later, Tarralyanna found Larynthe lying on her bed, staring out numbly through the window. She declined all food – and now she was feeling dizzy and drained, unable to think about anything and hoping she would die of starvation. She had not been given any knives and there were no sharp objects in her room. Figures.
"Hello, my pet," said Tarralyanna with a soft smile. Larynthe turned slightly to look at her and then looked away, ignoring her. Tarralyanna ignored her desire to punish her for impertinence, in the light of everything that happened to her, and approached her. Her dress rustled softly as she walked.
"Brother and I are going for a little ride in the mountains," she said, glancing over Larynthe and noting she lost some weight. "He needs to hunt, and I need to get myself a new skin for my Saragon."
Larynthe looked aside and shrugged wordlessly. The Sith read her thoughts easily. She was asking herself why she came to tell her that. What did it have to do with Larynthe, if the two Sith were planning a trip?
"Master told me what happened to you," Lady Tarralyanna conversationally went on. "And I have left you on your own for some time for that reason, to give you time to think and come to terms with it."
Larynthe raised an eyebrow, not believing what the Sith was saying. The Jedi would have tried to spend time with and would not leave her alone with her troubled thoughts. They would understand she needed someone to comfort her and to be there for here and they would not leave her alone to mope and think about suicide. It must be the Sith way, she thought bitterly.
"But now I want you to go with us," the Sith went on, her voice still the same. "I have asked Master about it and he was very reluctant to allow it. But after I promised you would not try to escape or do anything stupid, he gave me his permission."
Her certainty in Larynthe's good intentions was startling, given the fact she was a Sith, and Larynthe now felt compelled to look at her. Tarralyanna was smiling softly at her, her hands crossed on her chest, her hair falling down her front. Her right wrist, however, was wrapped in a thick bandage, ending on her forearm.
"What happened?" asked Larynthe in a strange voice. She had not been using it lately.
"What?" asked Tarralyanna, leaning a little forward, and then realising that the Jedi was pointing at her wrist. "Oh, that," she said airily. "Master punished me for fighting with Tammutyen."
"Did you two have an argument?" asked Larynthe, turning to her, shocked to see first palpable proof of the Dark Lord's cruelty to his apprentices. The bandage was rather thick and Larynthe supposed the wound was deep.
"No, no," said the Sith, laughing a little, "We were just joking, playing around. He knocked me down to the floor and I hit him from behind, after what we started rolling across the floor with daggers… Well," she sighed. "Master has always forbidden us to fight each other, and though I am certain he knows we have only been fooling around, it was wrong. What matters to him is principle, really."
"But enough about that, my Jedi pet," said the Sith, her eyes glinting with excitement. "I got his permission to take you to the trip, so you would better start dressing. You have to see the Dead Man's Fall – little under five hours' ride from here. I bet you do not have those around your Jedi Temple."
She beamed at her and then left the room, leaving a stunned silence as she did so. Reluctantly, Larynthe rolled out of her bed and started to get dressed. The Sith's certainty that she would not escape was as naive as it was strange. But she had seen and heard so many strange things coming from the two that she was not surprised with anything any more. Perhaps the Sith believed that Larynthe had nowhere to go and that she would actually honour the promise she gave to the Dark Lord. It seemed that they thought very highly of promises in general and always kept them; thus they could not comprehend that someone could break his promise, least of all to the Dark Lord of the Sith.
Normally she would not think twice about a chance to escape which seemed to present itself to her. But as she listened to the Sith's story about the trip, something flashed across her blunt mind. If the Dark side surrounded her while she was in the Sith Temple, perhaps it would be different outside. Perhaps – and this made her stomach clench with excitement – she would be able to sense the light side of the Force outside, the right side, she reminded herself. But something else dissuaded her from her plans to escape. What would the Dark Lord do to his apprentices, if they promised to him that Larynthe would not escape? The Sith did not seem doubtful about this at all, and believed, in general, that Larynthe was very well off in the Temple and that she was happy, as happy as she could be with her companion dead and her now stranded on such a strange, unfriendly place. But she had to admit to herself – she has never treated her with disrespect. Although she smacked her on the head a few times and used the Dark side to turn her upside down as a threat – what Larynthe believed to be a part of her nature, as she hit her brother often and he pushed her around as well, treating each other with a sort of friendly aggressiveness – she was always mindful of Larynthe's needs. This became apparent to her as she offered her coffee – she noticed that Larynthe was stealing glances of the coffee pot and asked her whether she normally enjoyed coffee. When Larynthe's answer was positive, she poured a cup for her, saying that she could understand attachment to good coffee. This little grace left Larynthe stunned and she accepted it as one of the things she did not understand about the Sith. Mercilessness and emotional coldness she did not understand, but she could accept them, knowing this were the Sith she was thinking about; but offering her coffee for the benefit of her pleasure was something beyond her understanding and was contradictory to all she learned about the Sith. Thus she was clothed and ready when Peetah came for her and led her to the entrance to the Temple.
The two Sith stood before the entrance, talking quietly, strapping down their saddlebags and arranging their content. Lady Tarralyanna beckoned to Larynthe and at the sight of her, she noted, Lord Tammutyen straightened up, surveying her with interest. It almost seemed as though they were talking about her until she arrived.
"You ride well, do you not, Jedi Larynthe?" asked Tarralyanna, leading her toward a tall, grey horse.
Larynthe nodded, staring up at it. It was not a horse Larynthe was used to riding. This was a strong-chested, thick-furred mountain horse, bred primarily for riding but nevertheless it was apparent it had the blood of the sturdy, tall, mountain horse in its veins, renowned for its thick hooves and beautiful mane, which was used by the people of Gotan for making brushes and strings for their instruments.
"Here you go," said Lady Tarralyanna, lifting a hand and waving it. Larynthe felt herself being lifted up with the Dark side and levitated straight into the saddle. She glanced around herself, feeling the horse move under her, as though he was impatient to get going.
"The horse is a little young, but perfectly timid," said Tarralyanna, smiling at her from the ground. It was certainly a lot taller than the horses the Jedi used. "And Peetah packed your necessities – food and that kind of thing – into your saddlebags. You need no weapons, of course."
She laughed and turned to Tammutyen, who was watching them with his hands crossed on his chest. He was wearing thick wristbands and gloves, his long black cloak reaching the ground. He gripped the reins of his black stallion and heaved himself into the saddle by lifting his leg high and passing it over the saddle. There he settled himself comfortably and slowly pulled up his hood, glancing in Larynthe's direction.
"Now, we know the way, and you do not," said Tarralyanna, slipping gracefully into her own saddle, and thrusting her boots into stirrups. "So it would be for the best if you rode behind Lord Tammutyen; and I shall ride behind you."
Larynthe nodded without a word and followed the broad-shouldered Sith through the tall, iron courtyard gate and due east. He rode around the walls which surrounded the Temple and then led away from it, his horse trotting hard and nodding its head as though it was in the mood for a gallop. However, Tammutyen's strong legs tightened around its belly ruthlessly every time it seemed that the horse had a whim and thus it obediently trotted on.
"That," spoke Tarralyanna from behind, as Larynthe gaped at a dark, gaping hole, with Tammutyen ascending the slope leading away from it and toward the mountains, "is Pennyan Gorge. Bottomless, by all account."
"How could it be bottomless, my Lady?" asked Larynthe, startled, trying to catch a glimpse of it, but all she could see was blackness, as far as the eye could see. It seemed almost unnatural, for something as deep to be found there, looking as though someone simply drilled out a hole in the mountain.
"Well, use the Force," said Tarralyanna, shrugging. "Try to reach out as far as it would go."
Of course! In the light of everything, Larynthe completely forgot to try to feel the Force around her and now quickly concentrated, grateful for this chance, and reached out with her senses, trembling in anticipation. Of course, Tarralyanna understood very well what she was trying to do and was sniggering from behind. Larynthe almost thought for a moment that she succeeded, before she tried to compare it with her past experiences. Her stomach clenched unpleasantly. Has she become so immersed in it, that she could mistake it for the light side? Was it possible?
"My Lady," she addressed the Sith quickly, trying to sound humble, but ended up in sounding impatient. "Can you tell me something?"
"What?" asked Tarralyanna with a stifled laugh.
"What surrounds me now?" she asked in a trembling voice. "Is it the light side?"
"The light side?" echoed Tarralyanna. Tammutyen's growl of a laugh echoed from the head of the procession and Larynthe's heart froze. "Why, you silly little thing! I thought my Master explained it to you – once you cross to the Dark side, there is no turning back."
Larynthe felt horrible; it felt like losing her best friend for the second time all over again, and she could not bring herself to speak.
"Do you not think I have not been curious?" said Tarralyanna, her voice reaching Larynthe as though through a haze. "I wanted to sense the light side myself, to see what it felt like, and tried again and again. But it is impossible. Impossible for us, that is. My Master can do it."
"He… can?" asked Larynthe, incredulous.
"But of course," said Tarralyanna softly, resting her hands on the saddle. "If you are so keen on it and miss it so, then perhaps, with a lot of practice, you could accomplish it, too. As for myself, I have given it up. I was merely curious; but the matter is far too complicated to give it so much attention and undergo all that trouble for the sake of satisfying an academic interest."
"Do you think I could do that?" asked Larynthe, feeling fresh hope wake within her. It certainly sounded fantastic.
"As I said, with practice, you might," said Tarralyanna, "And, of course, you would have an advantage in your quest – you have used it before, so you would know how it feels like. Unlike me."
"I thought you could sense the Force around me when we duelled," said Larynthe.
"I could feel something, but it was nothing specific, nothing I could work with or study, just an indefinite sort of whoosh," said Tarralyanna with a sigh. "Sometimes I am so very sorry about this – it would offer me a new perspective, to know both sides. But it cannot be helped."
"And consequently," she went on, with a mysterious smile. "If you doubt my Master can reach out for the light side, all you have to do is to ask him to demonstrate it for you. Just be very humble and polite; and as he knows how much this means to you, I am certain he would oblige."
Larynthe was left to her thoughts throughout the following two hours of riding, grateful that they were riding through the mountains and that thick smoke coming from the Sith at the front was dispersing very quickly, melting with the chilly air.
The snow melted; and the road stretching ahead of them was muddy, but it looked used rather often, judging by the cart and hoof tracks. This seemed to be a regular path for all travellers, as the hoof tracks were leading in both directions. However, as the path lead onward, stretching like a long snake between two smaller gorges, thus acting as a natural bridge, the Sith took a sharp left turn and forced his horse to ascend the steep slope. Rocks rolled under his hooves, but the horses they rode seemed to be exceptionally strong. His black stallion barely let out a drop of sweat by the time they arrived at a handsome plateau, overlooking a few mountain lakes and a patch of shrubs nested in between them. Tarralyanna dismounted and led her horse toward the side of the mountain, where she unsaddled it and began pulling down her saddlebags. Not knowing what else to do, seeing that Tammutyen was dismounting as well, Larynthe disentangled herself from her stirrups and jumped down. However, she felt sudden weakness in her legs, which gave way under her – and the next thing she knew, she was sitting on the cold ground and gasping for air.
"You need nutrients, my Jedi pet," said Tarralyanna softly, watching Larynthe as she recovered from shock and slowly got to her feet. "Come and sit here, eat. Brother shall go hunting."
Tammutyen let out an excited growl as an affirmation, took out a large bow, and, with it and a quiver in his hands, he disappeared behind the pile of rocks, heading down into the valley and not looking back.
Larynthe was not sure about this. She did not want to eat, for she believed that she might die soon if she keeps to it – she already felt very weak.
"And I shall be taking you to a snake-hunt," said Tarralyanna, guessing what she was thinking about. "So you would better eat."
Larynthe sighed, resigning to her fate and pulling out several bundles at random from her saddlebags. With them in her hands she headed to the place where the Sith was sitting. In the meantime Lady Tarralyanna made a small camp-fire and seemed to enjoy the heat. She was smiling as she watched Larynthe sit down and she nodded to herself. Unwrapping one of the packages, she found several large brown balls, covered with something white. She did not know what it was, but took a bite nevertheless, not caring any more. She looked at the Sith with her brow furrowed as the taste reached her numb brain.
"Well, you are Albinian, are you not?" asked the Sith with a laugh. "I have found that food in one of the books on Albinian eating preferences – it is called a cake, I believe. Peetah is not all that adept at making that sort of thing, but it looked quite all right to me."
Larynthe would have laughed, if she still had the energy to do so, and took another bite of the strange brown ball. Yes, it was a cake; of the wrong shape, with certain spices added to it which seemed kind of out of place, but it was sweet and she could taste crème inside as she chewed. This little bit of home filled her with strange strength and will for life. She looked at the Sith, who was slowly nibbling on something and gazing absently in the distance.
"Do you not eat sweets? Candies?" asked Larynthe.
Tarralyanna stared at her for a few moments before she understood what she was asking her, as she pointed at the cakes, lacking synonyms she might use. It did not seem only that the Sith never ate them, but that she did not know what they were.
"Oh, that," said Tarralyanna, looking away with disgust. "No. It is bad for my digestion and my organism. They are not compatible."
"But are you not curious? How it tastes like?" asked Larynthe in disbelief. She spent most of her life smuggling chocolate biscuits into the Temple and she simply could not understand the fact that someone did not feel the least curious about the taste of sweets and candies. Perhaps it was because she had no idea what they were or how good they tasted.
"A nutrient is a nutrient," answered the Sith, chewing. "It is a composition of different chemical elements, designed to fuel our bodies with strength. My body, however, could not bear with that."
She pointed at the cake in Larynthe's hand.
"How about your brother?" asked Larynthe. "I can understand you would not want to eat something like this, but he just might."
"Heart of Rage, it does not have anything to do with what I want and what I do not want," said Tarralyanna, now positively startled with the Jedi's ignorance and presumptions. "It is useless for me, do you not understand? I cannot gain anything by eating it and my organism would have one hard time trying to process it. Therefore, however it tastes, I do not care. As for Tammutyen, he is on a different diet."
She laughed in an amused sort of way and tied up the bag which seemed to be full of nuts and looked down toward the valley. How one could live without taking pleasure in food, Larynthe would never know. They almost seemed like machines – not feeling, not caring for anything but the Dark side, their Master and their training. Just as she was about to pose another question, a high-pitched shriek echoed the valley; a flock of birds rose like a cloud of dust and fluttered away, toward the mountains in the distance. Tarralyanna snorted with laughter, picking up her flask with water.
"He is having a great time," she said, still laughing.
Larynthe imagined he was shooting arrows at everything he saw, enjoying a killing spree.
"But of course, he is very fond of reptile meat," said Tarralyanna, putting away the flask and then glancing toward Larynthe. "Hurry up with that eating ceremony, will you? All of the snakes will soon be out and I really need that skin."
Larynthe stuffed a few more brown balls into her mouth and followed the Sith who led the way. After a sharp descent, the found themselves in a rocky valley, completely devoid of any vegetation. There the Sith came to a full stop and Larynthe felt the Dark side spread around her. She was scouting, obviously, and Larynthe was standing very still, thinking about what she said about the light side and about the Dark Lord. It seemed to be her only choice, if she ever wanted to get back to the right side of the Force. How very ironic, she thought, that I have to turn to a Sith to teach me the ways of the light side.
"Hold this," she heard the Sith say and quickly extended her hand to accept whatever she was giving her, still staring moodily at the ground before her. However, as she did not receive anything she looked up. The Sith was staring at her, just about to pull out the sword from her belt.
"I did not say anything," she said, staring at Larynthe with interest.
"What do you mean?" asked Larynthe, knowing that she had to keep her voice down because of the snakes. "You just said…"
"I thought about it it," said the Sith, still staring at her. "Mighty Darkness! This is why Master is so patient with you. The Dark side seems to be strong with you."
Larynthe wanted to say something, but snorted instead. The Sith was still glaring at her, as though measuring her up and now seeing her in an entirely different light. At length, she handed her the sword and took out her bow, getting back to business, for what Larynthe was more than grateful.
It almost seemed unbelievably reckless to give Larynthe a sword while the Sith now slowly proceeded through the rocks with her bow taut, not looking back, using the Dark side to navigate her way through the rocks. She crouched for some time, with Larynthe crouching behind her, lost in thought.
"There," said the Sith in a whisper, pointing her gloved finger toward a large pile of rocks. "Can you sense it?"
She turned to look at the Jedi, who lifted her eyebrows. She could not sense anything.
"Well, use the Force," said the Sith impatiently, flaring up her nostrils. Larynthe shook her head resolutely.
"Suit yourself," said the Sith. "If something attacks you, I will not jump to your rescue. But bear in mind that those snakes are not merely venomous – they make death a very nasty experience."
She moved away from her, approaching the rocks quietly, despite of the numerous rocks she might have stepped on. At long last, after what seemed like twenty minutes of sneaking around, the Sith straightened up as though pricked by a needle, leapt up, landed in a turn beside the pile and sent a shower of arrows at it. Larynthe ran toward her, holding her sword, noting that it was lighter than her Jalá sword.
"Aha," said the Sith, looking very pleased with herself and pushing a hand into the rocks, which turned out to be a very comfortable shelter for a creature that preferred warmth, for there was a sort of a hole in it, a place to hide. She pulled out a ten-foot snake, which had three or four short arrows sticking out of its head, hanging limply in the Sith's hands. Larynthe jumped aback, mortified. When she said snake hunting, she thought that the Sith would merely be hunting for rock snakes for her pleasure, but she did not expect something like this. What was worse, she had never seen a snake that large and revolting.
"Well, it is dead," said Tarralyanna, laughing at her expression and then looking down on the snake triumphantly. "G'Plath, or the Green Flyaway, as it is called in Albinian, I believe. It is nothing like the Montaar, but I really do not have time to wander around looking for it. The G'Plath's skin will do just fine."
By now Larynthe found out that the language they spoke while talking to each other was Sith and thought it rather sounded like a snake language itself – it seemed like a jumble of strange, hissing and gurgling noises. It was a real tongue-breaker, it seemed to Larynthe.
"Just look at it," said Tarralyanna fondly, caressing the smooth skin of the snake, which was gleaming. "It is beautiful. Quite young, too."
"I think I am going to be sick," mumbled Larynthe, after she glanced over the snake and looked at its staring, dead, yellow eyes. She turned away and doubled over.
"You ate too many of those cakes of yours," said Tarralyanna, laughing and pulling out a large bit of cloth she brought with her to wrap the snake in it – it was very important to keep the skin intact.
"Nothing to do with the cakes," muttered Larynthe, breathing deeply. "But that snake."
"What about it?" asked Tarralyanna, walking ahead of her and leading the way back to the camp.
"Horrible," said Larynthe with difficulty, thinking that the Sith was merely teasing her. "Slimy and horrible."
"You think it is horrible?" asked Tarralyanna, halting with the snake draped over her shoulder, hanging down her front. Larynthe took one look at the bit of the tail that was swinging to and fro and put a hand over her mouth, feeling ready to throw up again.
"You Jedi are so strange," said Lady Tarralyanna, resuming her walk and shaking her head. "You do not detest eating those… cow things, and yet you detest the sight of such a wonderful creature such as a snake. Very cunning and smart; graceful, long and shiny – simply beautiful. Cows are filthy, stupid, lazy and useless, except if you want to kill someone with their foul smell."
"You mean calf," mumbled Larynthe. "We do not eat cows. We eat calves."
"A baby cow," said Tarralyanna, turning to her in her walk and furrowing her brow. "Oh, yes. Now I remember. Three words for cows, how very peculiar."
She leaned forward and dropped the snake on the ground, staring at it with triumph and measuring it up. Larynthe sat down, her head spinning, her stomach in her throat. The Sith drew a knife and glanced over the wrapped snake, at what Larynthe gave a wail and covered her entire face with her cloak, breathing as though she was going to faint. The Sith lowered her knife and glanced over her with pity.
"Go and sit over there, if you feel so unwell," she said, pointing at the shrubbery beneath the plateau. "I shall call you when I am done."
Larynthe got to her feet and staggered toward the shrubbery, trying to drink some water to wash down the horrible taste of acid and sat with her head hanging between her knees, staring at the ground. Oddly, escape was not on her mind and she listened to the strange sounds which were coming from the direction of the plateau, trying to ignore them. She heard someone coming and turned around, feeling her stomach clench again as she did so. It was Lord Tammutyen.
He was swaying and humming to himself as he walked, apparently very pleased about something. He was holding a bloody dagger in his one hand and was carrying a large lizard around his neck which was dripping with blood, its long tail bobbing as he walked. The awful smell spread around him like a disease and reached Larynthe very quickly. She clapped a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes. Before he could say something, she was crouching and throwing up again. Lord Tammutyen stared at her for a few moments, not realising that the dead lizard was making her sick.
("Your pet does not seem to be well,") he yelled to Lady Tarralyanna in Sith.
("It is your carcass, Tammu,") answered the laughing Lady Tarralyanna. ("Just leave her, she shall be all right.")
("Carcass?") he echoed, staring at the poor Jedi, who was now coughing and fighting for breath. He lifted an eyebrow and then headed to the plateau, the unbearable stench disappearing along with him. Larynthe crouched, staring at the ground and trying to compose herself.
Some time later, she saw the feet of the female Sith approach her and she looked up.
"Lord Tammutyen cut his meat and put it away," she said with amusement in her voice, glancing over the pale and sweaty Larynthe. "And I have skinned my snake. You may come back now."
When she sat down by the fire again, she spotted a bundle which she supposed contained the snake's rolled skin, or what the Sith required of it. Lord Tammutyen was sitting by the fire with a cigar in his hand and staring at Larynthe with a derisive smile hovering on his lips.
"Do you normally react like this to dead animals?" asked Lady Tarralyanna, sitting down.
"I would not know," mumbled Larynthe. "I have never seen a dead ten-foot snake before."
"No?" asked Tarralyanna, lifting an eyebrow in a very Tammutyen-like fashion. "How very strange. Oh, well, I suppose that explains it."
"Did you know," she addressed Tammutyen in Albinian, so that Larynthe could understand them, "that she thinks snakes are revolting?"
"Really?" asked the monumental Sith, staring at the Jedi. "Which animals do you like, then?"
"Baby cows," said Tarralyanna readily. "Pigs. Oh and yes, hens."
"What in the name of Darkness is a hen?" asked Tammutyen, startled.
"Your Albinian has never been that good, has it?" she asked, laughing. "You know, those birds which always either sit on their eggs or eat? Laat'Teth?"
"No wonder they have problems with laziness, if they eat the meat of such animals," he said, waving a hand. "Goat – now that is meat. Very agile, very strong. Snake – smooth body made entirely out of muscle. Lizard – damn fast. Sweet, hard meat. One can break a tooth if one is not careful."
Larynthe was looking at him with a puzzled expression, trying hard not to visualise him actually eating a large snake and asking herself how he could actually eat something like that. What he said made sense, sort of – she realised that he ate meat of those animals the characteristics of which he admired. But she never thought of hens as lazy, or calves as smelly and stupid.
"What about bears?" she asked curiously.
"Only some parts," said Tammutyen, obviously impressed with the fact she guessed what was on his menu. "But I shall not share the particularities with you now. You still look a little unwell."
"You are very considerate, Lord Tammutyen," said Larynthe, unable to help herself. The Sith laughed, beamed at her and stretched.
"Let us go," he said to Lady Tarralyanna. "We should reach the caves before the rise of Luth. Such a great view."
They rode past the Dead Man's Fall, which turned out to be a half-frozen waterfall, thrashing down into the arid valley from the height of four hundred feet. Trees grew all around it and their roots stuck at all sorts of odd angles. It almost seemed impossible for a tree to grow there at all. The water poured over the rim and disappeared in a gaping hole at the bottom of the waterfall. Larynthe stared at it. She had never seen anything like it; and the sight of it filled her with dread and anxiety.
"Told you," said Tarralyanna, pulling her horse back beside her and glancing down the waterfall. "You do not have those around your Temple, do you?"
"Why is it called the Dead Man's Fall?" asked Larynthe.
"Well, basically because if a person would fall down," said the Sith, grinning, "he would first land on those sharp rocks – that would hurt. And then he would get stuck behind those sharp branches over there and get tossed around by the water. Not pleasant. And then, he would be carried away by the water and bump against the rocks until he would land into the pit and disappear in it."
Larynthe stared at her. The Sith was laughing pleasantly, obviously thinking this was a good joke.
"I would call it the Cursed Waterfall instead," said Larynthe, deciding not to share her thoughts with the Sith.
"Ah," exclaimed the Sith, nodding at her. "An excellent suggestion, Jedi Larynthe." She repeated what Larynthe said to her brother in Sith, who seemed to be very impressed. Larynthe said this without thinking, thus giving her opinion on the Sith's horrible story; but they seemed to like the name she gave to the waterfall.
Muttering to herself, Larynthe followed Tammutyen away from the waterfall, painfully aware of their use of the Dark side from time to time, as they seemed to be sweeping their surroundings for animals. They arrived at the caves little after the rise of Luth and there sat to eat at last. Exhausted and numb, having too many thoughts in her head, Larynthe sat a little away from them, while Lord Tammutyen roasted his lizard. She thought about it well and long – she certainly had time to do that. Nothing could be accomplished by her escape. She could not use the light side of the Force, and so, her life was over. But, if there was a chance that the Dark Lord would consider teaching her how to reawaken her abilities, she would give it a go. Why did he not mention this before? Why did he say that one loses perception for the light side, once one feels the Dark side?
"It is really very simple, Jedi Larynthe," said Tarralyanna, turning to her with an orange fruit in her hands, while Larynthe was busy eating potatoes. "By once sensing the Dark side and actually trying to use it, you gain a new perspective and lose the old one, which enabled you to reach out for the light side of the Force. But, if your mind is strong, if your will is strong, and if you command the Dark side very well, you can ask it to step aside for a moment."
"I asked Master about it, many times," she went on thoughtfully, while Larynthe listened, straining her ears. "How does it feel? He said… that to him, the light side speaks through the Dark side. It is there, and yet he cannot ignore the presence of the Dark side. Consider, for instance, a gush of wind and imagine someone is using a fan in the same room. You would normally feel only the wind, of course; but a trained mind, a powerful mind, can momentarily ignore the wind and sense the stirring of the air caused by the fan."
"That does not sound like the Force I was used to," sneered Larynthe, back on being bitter and angry. "How would he know how the light side feels like?" She avoided calling him by any name or title, uncertain herself why, but she knew that the thought of him filled her with cold dread.
"Oh, he knows," laughed Tarralyanna. "A long time ago, he used it."
"The light side?" echoed Larynthe, startled. "Was he… a Jedi?"
"Yes," answered the Sith, appearing as though she was proud of this, contrary to what Larynthe thought, for she rather believed that the Sith would hate to have any connection with the Jedi whatsoever. "He escaped from the Jedi Temple and found a teacher in the Dark side. He taught him. But he knows the light side, oh yes."
"When was this?" asked Larynthe, her heart beating fast. What she just discovered was extraordinary. "I was not aware of any fugitives."
The Sith gave her a sharp look and shook her head.
"We do not know his age," she said quietly. "And he never told us."
"I always thought that the use of the Dark side causes flesh decay," said Larynthe, glancing over the flawless, youthful face of the Sith. "So the Jedi believe," she defended herself.
"The ancient Sith were troubled by this, that is true," nodded the Sith seriously. "However, my Master… is so powerful that flesh is no obstacle for him. He developed techniques to avoid this. And he taught us the same."
"How?" asked Larynthe, gaping at her. She knew there was a secret to their youthful appearance! The Dark side was the Dark side and there had to be a catch. What was it?
"I cannot tell you," said the Sith, laughing. From the other side of the fire they could hear Tammutyen audibly chewing the lizard. "You will have to try to ask my Master that."
After more hunting and exploring the scenery, they came back to the camp once again. Night fell; and Larynthe found that the caves they spoke about were not merely caves. They stretched deep into the mountain and Larynthe did not like the endless dark openings, treacherous mouths gaping at her and stalactites dripping with water. She had been given a place to sleep at the entrance of the cave because the Sith wanted to make a fire, to feel warm and cosy in the depths of the cave. They laid down to sleep, one beside the other, enjoying the heat, whereas Larynthe sat right before the entrance, grateful that she was not forced to sleep inside and enjoying the fresh, albeit chilly, night air. Even if she would escape, what would it matter? What would it change? Where would she go? First, to the Jedi Temple, she decided. But what would they do with her, once they find out that all she could use is the Dark side? There must be someone there who can help me, she thought. But she would first find out all she could about the Sith Lord and ask him to demonstrate the light side for her. If he would ever comply. But, Dark side or not, if she ever returned to the Jedi Temple, all the knowledge she garnered, including this, would have to mean something to the masters.
She lay awake for hours, pondering, her thoughts jumping from one bitter conclusion to another, until she thought she could no longer bear it. She turned around, trying to get a view of the Sith. They were sleeping on their backs, side by side, and were breathing deeply. She could do it, she thought, her glance pausing on their weapons; they were asleep and defenceless. But no, she decided. Larynthe was not a murderer. The Sith gave her a chance to fight for her life, and despite of what Larynthe thought about her, she knew that she had been fair. There was something almost… noble about them, she thought, despite of their horrid morbid jokes and strange perspective. They were fast asleep, with all their weapons right under Larynthe's nose; and they did not think for one moment that Larynthe might think about killing them. She gave her promise and they believed that was that. Even the Sith, who cared about no one and nothing, but the Dark side, believed that she would keep to her promise. This filled her with guilt for planning her escape and even thinking about killing them. But at the same time she did not care about the consequences of her actions. 'You are thinking exactly like a Sith,' she heard Waak's voice in her head. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the image of his face hovering in front of her, furious tears pouring down the side of her face.
Slowly, reluctantly, Larynthe concentrated, and summoned the Force. It answered; slowly, and with tardiness, but it answered. She tried to listen to the tingling around her which was the Dark side. She once managed to confuse it with the light side – how? Has she fallen that low? How did the Dark side feel, she asked herself, grateful that the two were asleep and that they could not sense her shameful experiments? Swift, she decided, almost flammable; it was very active, she thought further; but as she reached out a bit further, she checked and withdrew her Force senses. She felt something… a rumble from the deep, a voiceless voice, a thunder of rage which was quivering, waiting to be unleashed, and the strength of it scared her. What was it? She was afraid to investigate any further and decided she would not try this again. She fell asleep at last and had many dreams about the end of the world. She was hunted by her fellow Jedi, who kept yelling at her and saying she had become a Sith, whereas the two Sith were laughing at her and telling her that no one could escape the Dark side. Morning came as a relief.