Later:

The night was silkily dark. Anakin's heart pounded against his temple like the drum beats of war. It turned out that the Vornskrs did have a den. It came in the form of a large cave.

The entrance facing towards dark mountains to the South. The cave was large enough to hold all of the Vornskrs while they slept. Once there, Anakin had discovered that there were more pups than he had originally believed. There were dozens of tiny puppies. He determined himself not to hurt any of them.

The mountains rose high as jagged edges into the sky, dark and mysterious and somehow alive, as if they were watching. Anakin felt as if they were giants there to judge his actions, and knew himself to be already condemned.

He had also been invited into the cave, no matter how much he had protested. The entire day had been spent by the riverside, though Padme and Ahsoka did lead separate hunting parties out to catch dinner. Anakin wondered what it felt like to grow up in the atmosphere these cubs did.

He wondered what it could have been like to grow up by the sunny riverside.

The afternoon had passed in peace, with him sitting in the large circle of Vornskrs, scratching belies and wrestling with the Twins.

The family had watched on, Padme happy to have a break from her rambunctious children and Anakin happy to have reinforcements in his wrestling. The force had been content and lively. Anakin had tried to give Nava the best last day ever.

I have got to stop thinking of her as Nava. My Nava is safe, or she will be if I get this done. It would be just like Sidious to kill her first if I don't succeed. With that horrific thought in his mind, Anakin sat up from his place lying on the ground beside Padme.

Even if it weren't his real wife, the warmth next to him had been welcome. On the other side his double rested his chin atop Padme's back as if she were his own personal pillow. Anakin didn't have the strength to smile. He could hear the downpour of rain outside, a steady beating to match the rhythm of his rampaging heart. He hated to do this.

Calling on the force, he carefully relaxed his sore and acing leg muscles. He would need them to escape into the night. He was not going to leave her body there for the Vornskrs to find headless in the morning. But then would they be worried looking for her? Because they would worry when they woke in the morning. Of that Anakin was sure.

He sighed. He could only do his best. To his shame, it was a relief to know that he would not be here in the morning to watch the consequences of his actions. Keeping the picture of his family in mind, he finished his ministrations, knowing that the numbness he had caused would only last a short while.

And his arm would be useless for a few days if he continued to work it so hard. You're stalling, Anakin told himself as he sat up. It was completely dark, he could only see the outline of the bodies around him. They all slept serenely, the Force undisturbed by any cares or worries.

Hopefully he could keep it that way. Following the familiar Force signature, Anakin stood unsteadily and gazed around. She was in the very front, sleeping upon that small rising of rock a few dozen Vornskrs away.

Anakin shook his head, wondering how anyone could sleep so very soundly when a catastrophe was about to happen. Then again, he had slept more than soundly once before as well, before his camp was ambushed.

He crept past all the bodies, freezing whenever there was even the slightest tremble of breath. He was ready to dart back into place at a second's notice if need be.

They had trusted him before, but he doubted that would last very long when they got a whiff of who he really was. This isn't who you are, this is what you have to do, he lied to himself.

Silently, he kept going, moving quickly, until he finally reached the singular spot where the matriarch couple lay asleep. Thankfully, the two Vornskrs weren't tangled into each other like his double and Padme were.

He had worried how he was to kill her without harming the other. Standing above them, he forced himself to take a deep breath before he ignited his saber. It would be quick. He would make sure she didn't feel a single millisecond of pain. Here we go, he raised his saber above his head, ready to bring it down on her neck…

When he heard a growl from behind him. Anakin inhaled sharply and swiveled around, saber coming out in time to come face to face with Ahsoka's enraged, betrayed eyes.

She must have smelled him. "You!" he gasped, reaching forward to clamp her jaw shut. "No!" but it was too late. She let out a loud, angry bark that echoed throughout the cave.

Instantly, the other sharp predators looked up, now wide awake, yellow eyes gleaming in the dark night. When they saw Anakin's position over their leader, the same rage in Ahsoka's eyes became their own.

The Force lit up with the fires of betrayal. Instantaneously, the entire Pack stood, tails rearing up threateningly. "Ahsoka," Anakin whispered, taking a step back, eyes darting around as the others rose.

"What have you done?" No, now he would have to fight all of them. He had not wanted to hurt them. Didn't they understand that this was the only way? He twirled around when he heard a sharp yelp as he stepped on a tail.

He looked down. Obi-wan and Nava looked up sleepily. When they saw him and his weapon, he felt their confusion in the Force. It broke his heart.

His double let out a warning bark, long teeth curved in ferocious protection. Anakin didn't have time to think twice, while they were down. Forgive me, he reared his saber back and struck. Before the weapon could hit, though, Anakin was struck with a force push that propelled him across the cavern.

He looked up to see the furious eyes of Obi-wan as he stood protectively over his mate. "Oh, come on," Anakin mumbled, snapping to his feet in time to fend off a rush of teeth, tail and claws.

He knew that if he didn't hurry he would have to retreat or face death. All the worse was that he could not see anything but the pale yellow eyes of his adversaries in the dim light.

And he did not intend to die and leave Luke and Leia to the mercy of Sidious. His saber continuously moving in a wide arcing circle of movement, he avoided death at all costs. Struggling to also fend off the mental bombardment of animals who used the force to confuse and burden their prey, he tried to either injure or knock them out.

Why in the blazes was that so hard?

In the background he could hear the whimpering of the pups. Anakin gritted his teeth, remembering a time long ago when he had heard the cries of pain from the children of the men who had tortured his mother.

Then, suddenly, he was back at that moment, of blind rage and unending sorrow. He could smell the burning flesh and see the eyes full of terror and begging, he could hear Qui-gon's voice calling to him…

No! No! I will not do that ever again!

Anakin slashed at the opponents, desperate not to hurt them, and as if in slow motion saw a dark motion from the corner of his eyes. He turned, saber held out in a pointed warning towards whatever was attacking.

A solid thump at the end of his saber and the screech of the impact was his first indication of death. Anakin gasped as he saw the blood red lightsaber pierce the heart of the Vornskr that had reminded him of Ahsoka. The female's eyes widened as she gazed at him with yellow eyes that clouded with pain. She had tried to pounce on his vulnerable back.

Anakin gasped, his own eyes widening. No, no, I'm so sorry, he thought, horrified. Time seemed to stop as the others halted in their tracks, staring at one of their young ones as she sat impaled upon his saber.

Then, slowly, Anakin lowered his saber and the young Vornskr that so reminded him of his own apprentice fell to the ground. The other two, Lux and Intrepid raced to her side to poke their noses into her immobile shoulder, whining with worry.

Anakin watched them, half hoping that she would rise and attack him again. His mind went back to afateful moment years earlier on Mortis, when he had seen his apprentice fall lifelessly to the ground.

He remembered running faster than he ever had to her side, turning a body cold and limp on her side. His angry words to the Father echoed through his mind. "Yes there is! There's always hope!" It was as if he had lost his own Padawan.

It took everything he had not to run to her again. Where's your hope now, Chosen One? After a few seconds of sniffing and whining urgently, the two looked up. The look in their eyes said it all. She was dead.

Horror pounded behind his Temples. He had killed her. Realizing that the Force was fairly inundated in the wild power of a family's anguished rage, he twirled around. Lux and Intrepid threw their heads back and howled into the Force, tainting it with the hatred in their hearts.

Anakin was at once attacked by his double, the yellow eyes of the most powerful large with grief and fury. Anakin shook his head. They were evenly matched in Force power, he needed to get rid of the Prince first.

He shoved the predator away with the Force violently, where he crashed against the far wall and fell, unconscious. Then Anakin was once more barraged by the remaining pack, seeking revenge for their fallen comrade. Anakin turned, his feet dancing in a circle of defense and offense. His blood rushed in his ears.

He was dizzy with speed and adrenaline, drunk off the connection he held with the Force to avoid collapsing. His lungs heaved and his ribs ached as he breathed. Tails that he cut away flew, the howls of pain and rage filled the cavern.

The battlefield was full of blood and tense with the hurt of betrayal. That was why Anakin could not keep track of how many were tails and paws that he cut away and how many were heads and how many hearts he plunged his blade into. His heart pumped painfully with a single constant word, throbbing in its insistent breaking.

Fight, fight, fight, fight for your life.

It seemed he had been making a habit of that for some time now. He was aware of the tears running down his face though, as he carved a path towards the Matriarch female, standing proudly at the back of the cave, glaring at him, waiting for him there without fear or regret.

But first he had to pay a price. Will you pay the price of life? her eyes seemed to dare as her mate slunk down from her side towards Anakin. The king who had been his friend that morning was staring at him with bloodlust.

The force darkened and throbbed like a wound that pumped blood, a single phrase that kept a single ringing in his mind from the Vornskr pack.

Why? Why? Why?

The dream he had had a few weeks earlier flashed through his mind. He was murdering his family. He, the Chosen One, was murdering just by his continued existence.

Anakin, we trusted you!

Anakin hacked down wildly, and didn't see what became of the older male that had attacked except for the splash of blood that spattered the front of his shirt. One by one, his opponents fell.

Anakin saw a few flashes of tiny figures moving towards him and slashed them away. Lux…Padme…Intrepid…Obi-wan…And the others of the pack until there were none left to defend their queen.

Anakin did not look around as he stood, gasping, before her, his red saber inches away from the nose of the Vornskr queen. Wide, yellow eyes gazed down at the pack that lay finally tamed behind Anakin. He had tamed the Vornskr pack. The pack which he refused to turn around to look at. He couldn't bear the sight of them.

He met her proud eyes and saw shock there. It was a look that tore through his soul to the emotions beneath. Tears slipped unheeded down his face. Lightning thundered from outside, "I…" He choked out, hand wavering. She was gazing at him with a single question in her eyes.

Oh, Anakin, why did you lie? To us, Anakin!

She's not Nava, she's not Nava. She is not… "Forgive me," he whispered brokenly. "But I have no choice. It won't hurt, don't worry," then he cut her down, and the queen did not fight back. He assumed that she had no reason too. With a solid thunk, the second of the Vornskr matriarchs collapsed, headless, to the ground.

Dark yellow eyes now opaque stared up at him with fury and shock still hidden in their deep depths, the mouth hanging open. Torpidly numb with his own self-loathing, he picked the head up off the ground.

Slowly, he turned it in the light of his red saber… And then he turned away to vomit on the ground, soaked red by innocent blood he had spilled for the second time in his life.

Anakin He was wiping his mouth, sniffling, when he heard a strangled sound from above. He looked up to see the Vornskr prince staring at the carnage behind him, trembling with either rage or agony. He had woken from his unconsciousness. Anakin sighed and reluctantly turned around…

And gasped when he saw the slaughter he had left behind. They were all dead. Even the pups…He must have assumed that the small figures were tails lashing out at him when they pounced, also wanting to protect their pack. Luke and Leia, dead, murdered…

Anakin retched, unable to fathom it. He had killed even the younglings, all of them. The injured had bled out. Others had died quickly, by just a stab through the heart or lungs.

No, no, I never meant to do that.

But he had. And there was no reversing it. Anakin turned to stare sorrowfully at the last Vornskr of the pack that had once inhabited the forests. The double Chosen One of another world that had lost his entire family. Anakin felt as if he were looking at a prophecy.

Lightning flashed in the sky, illuminating the clear accusation sitting in glowing yellow eyes. The lifeless bodies became vividly outlined in stark light, blood that was sinking into the ground, drowning life in the rivers of death. It was as if nature were putting a spotlight on the massacre wrought here. It was no longer hidden by snuffed out campfires and the cryptic Tatooine desert. Not here. Not now. The Vornskr male met his eyes

Anakin, what have you done?

Anakin's eyes blurred by hot tears. For moment, he considered baring his neck to the predator, considered offering his own life blood as recompense for what he had done. An eye for an eye, A life for a life …

But then who would free the Jedi?

He shook his head slowly. He knew what he would have wanted had this ever happened to him-if it ever did, he knew what the merciful thing to do would be. "I'm sorry, Anakin," he whispered, and then his saber had ignited right into the Vornskr's unprotected heart.

His powerful friend let out a yelp of pain, eyes widening with shock. Then, slowly, his eyes closed, and Anakin caught the large animal in his arms when he collapsed.

Anakin could feel hot blood soaking into his clothes. If there had been anything left in his stomach, he was sure he would have vomited again. As it was, he merely sat there a moment, in the dark, staring down at the dead Vornskr, feeling the empty hollowness of life taken in the Force.

Now they were all dead. He had killed them. He had killed them all.

What seemed like hours later, Anakin stood. With a soft sob, he gently lowered the young father to the ground next to his mother's headless body. His hands trembling, biting back his sobs, he grabbed the head of the Vornskr queen. Wobbling where he stood, Anakin made his way out of the cave and into the rain.

Sidious arrived the next day.

"Ah, Anakin," the Sith hissed as he stepped aboard the hollow ship. Unceremoniously Anakin dropped the still bleeding head into his lap. The Sith did not even seem to notice.

In fact he merely let the head drop from his lap to the ground, disregarding it completely. Anakin's fists clenched. But here and now was not the time to pick a fight. Not when he was so weak he was trembling violently with exhaustion. Vader took one glance at him, and decided that messing with him at that moment would have been a terrible idea. Anakin could not have been more grateful. Sidious did not get the point which came easily to his apprentice.

"I see you have done your objective," the Sith eyed him up and down with a pleased expression. "And look rather worse for wear, may I add," he added despite Anakin never having given permission.

"Did you come across any natives?" Anakin sunk exhaustedly into the chair behind Sidious and wearily shook his head as the ship started to take off. He was too ashamed even to be angry anymore.

Even though he also knew that the Sith had set him up, it had been Anakin to strike the killing blows. Sidious had done nothing but plan the situation. He had betrayed his friends.

"Not really," he mumbled, turning his eyes out of the window. Now, all he wanted to do was get out of these clothes, clean his saber of blood and sleep.

For the rest of his life. "The Vornskrs caused you so much trouble?" Darth Sidious seemed genuinely surprised, despite his past gloating of the Vornskr's power.

He gazed pointedly at Anakin's bleeding wounds and the blood splattered all over him wonderingly. Anakin decided that the last person he would tell this story too would be Sidious. He was going to be ashamed enough trying to explain it to Luke and Leia, his Luke and Leia, not the dead cubs still lying cold on the ground of the caves.

What does it matter whose Luke and Leia they were? They were still children. You still murdered helpless children, again. He gazed tiredly at Sidious, who was still staring at him as if he expected an answer. After a moment of confusion Anakin realized he did.

He smirked humorlessly, eyes darkening into orbs of misery and defeat. "Well, you know," he gave a small half shrug. "They were Skywalker's," and with that said, he turned his head away.

End of part one is coming up fast! Man, and here I thought part one would last about fifty chapters. Oops... Oh well!

~QueenYoda