Feeding

By: Red Blaze 16

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars...
…...

Blah, Blah – Memories from the Past.

Blah, Blah – Force speak/internal thoughts from the Present.

…...

Part 1

Luke ran. The Hero of Yavin was moving as quickly as he could, attempting to dodge Imperials, as he tried to find his way back to his X-Wing. It was not a good day for a scouting mission.

Originally, the blond hero had been sent to Dathomir by the Alliance High Command. Located in the Outer Rim, it seemed like a safe, out of the way planet for an Alliance base. Luke had been uneasy the entire time he had been on the planet and now it was worse. When Luke got back and reported to High Command, he would not encourage them to go to this planet!

Of course any chance of using the planet was ruined when Imperials discovered him. Luke wasn't worried about the Stormtroopers. He had been really careful and, if it hadn't been for the Force, no Imperials would have known he was on planet. It wasn't the Stormtroopers who had figured out he was on Dathomir, but the Commander of the Imperial Navy, Darth Vader. The Sith Lord was hunting for the blond Rebel. So far, Luke had stayed ahead of Vader, but he knew his luck wouldn't last. He could feel the Sith's dark presence searching for the Jedi.

Luke ducked down another hallway. In his attempt to avoid Darth Vader, Luke knew he was moving further and further away from his X-Wing. The Rebel hadn't gone down any lifts or stairs, but it felt like he was going down instead of up and out. Focusing on where he was compared to where his X-Wing was was better than the alternative. He did not want to meet with Vader. The last time had ended with Luke losing his lightsaber and a hand. And that wasn't the worst of it.

No, I am your father.

Luke couldn't dwell on it. Anakin Skywalker had been a Clone Wars General and Jedi Knight. He had been a hero or so Ben had told the young man. Luke still had a difficult time accepting that the man had turned into one of the most feared beings in the galaxy.

Search your feelings. You know it to be true.

Bespin. The memory threatened to overwhelm the Rebel. Luke pushed it from his mind. He couldn't afford to be distracted by his memories if he wanted to get away from Vader. Especially since, by going down, instead of up, he could find himself trapped and with no way out by the complex he was running through. With how close Darth Vader felt, backtracking was not an option.

Previous hallways had held windows. None large enough for Luke to get through though. There weren't any windows in the halls he rushed through now. He felt like a womp rat in a maze, hoping to find the exit before Vader found him. The presence of the Dark Side was nipping at his heels.

Luke.

It wasn't the first time Darth Vader had called out to him. The first time, the hero had startled. Now, he ignored the voice. Luke rounded another corner and dashed down the hallway, only to stop at the door frame. Less than a foot of flooring went into the chamber. Except for its placement, Luke could believe it was a shaft or space for a lift that was never installed. The young man looked up and down. He couldn't see the floor and he couldn't see the ceiling. Luke also felt something cold about this space. The Rebel shivered.

Luke glanced across the space and could see that the hallway continued on the other side. While space seemed too far to jump, nothing was impossible with the Force. Luke backtracked down the hall, to give himself a running start. Between one step and the next, he felt the coldness of the chamber leave him. He glanced around and saw a silver line across the floor of the hallway. Luke frowned.

Luke.

Hearing Vader call his name again, the Rebel could feel that the Sith was even closer than before. Luke took a deep breath and took off running. He sprinted down the hall and, as he neared the door frame, he felt Vader directly behind him. He didn't turn to look, but he knew that Vader had turned the corner and saw him.

Luke! Stop!

"Luke! Stop!"

The words echoed in the Force and in Luke's ears, but he didn't stop. His foot hit the edge of the flooring and he pushed off. The boy knew he would easily clear the empty space, until he felt something grab his right foot. It was cold and reeked of the Dark Side of the Force.

"Let go!" Luke demanded.

The Force grab caused Luke to not hit the other side as he had intended. Instead of easily clearing the space and landing on his feet, Luke's hands barely caught the edge of the other side. He dangled from the edge.

Luke could feel the Force hold on his ankle spread. It went down to his toes and slowly climbed up his leg. It felt cold. Like nothing Luke had felt before. His leg slowly went numb.

"Release him!" demanded Vader. The Dark Side of the Force swirled around the Sith Lord.

Luke felt the hold on his leg shift. The Rebel was confused. If Vader didn't grab me, then who did?

As the pressure on his leg eased, the boy pulled himself up and onto the solid ground. He went to stand up, but the moment he put weight on the right leg, it gave out. Luke fell to the ground.

"Luke! Get away from the edge!" shouted the Dark Lord of Sith.

Luke slid away from the edge and rolled onto his back. His eyes widened as he took in the sight. A figure, female in appearance, was hovering between Luke and Vader. The form was mostly made of shadow and mist. Luke could feel a darkness emanating from the being. It appeared to be facing Vader, though Luke could see the Sith Lord through her form.

"Why do you stop me, Dark One?" The voice was feminine, but it didn't sound like a single voice. It sounded like a blend of multiple voices. Some higher pitched, some lower, but all feminine in tonal quality and mixed together into a single voice. The words were spoken in curiosity, not anger.

"He's mine," growled the Sith Lord. There was a snap of anger to the Dark Lord's words.

"But I am hungry," replied the shadow. "And he is Light."

She turned away from Vader and drifted toward Luke. The shadow raised her hand and beckoned to Luke.

"Come to me, boy," the shadow whispered.

Luke could feel himself sliding toward the shadow being. The hallway was narrow and Luke threw out his hands. Easily he could touch the walls and he attempted to slow his movement. He also reached out with the Force and attempted to push himself back from the edge and the shadow creature.

"You will not have him," roared Vader.

For a moment, the hero could feel two different sources of the Dark Side of the Force surrounding him. Slowly, the Rebel moved away from the edge and the shadow being. The further he got from the being, the weaker one of the sources of Dark Side grew. All too quickly, Luke felt only the darkness of Vader's Force energy surrounding him.

The shadow turned and hissed at the Dark Lord. Vader stood on the edge of the flooring on the other side. The shadow drifted closer to him.

"Perhaps I will feed on you first," she whispered.

"You cannot feed on Dark," replied Vader.

"You are not completely Dark," she whispered back as she drifted closer to the Sith Lord.

The shadow creature reached out a hand and Darth Vader felt a small pull. Using the Dark Side of the Force, the Sith Lord held his ground and the creature could not draw him closer to it.

"But your Light would be a simple snack compared to the boy. An appetizer compared to a feast."

The shadow creature stopped within a foot of the Sith Lord. It drifted on the air for a moment before it slowly backed away.

"It doesn't matter," she said. "There is no escape for the Light."

During their exchange, Luke had pulled himself up from off the ground. He right leg still felt weak and he worried that he still couldn't put any weight on it. He leaned against the wall and watched. As the shadow creature moved away from Vader and turned to face him, Luke tensed.

"There is no way out, boy, and you will have return through my chamber," she whispered, as she drifted toward Luke. She came to stop on the edge of the broken floor. The mists and darkness near the floor seemed to puddle on it, almost like she was wearing a long dress. "And then I will feed."

A moment later, she disappeared.

…...

With Luke distracted by the sudden disappearance of the shadow being, Vader took the opportunity to leap across to the other side. He felt the Dark Side gather and strike against him. Almost like claws that dragged across his back. The Sith Lord didn't make a sound at the attack, though he felt a little colder from it.

He landed on the other side. Luke was still leaning against the wall, though he straightened when Vader landed a few feet away. Luke reached for his blaster on his hip. He knew it wouldn't do him any good. The hero hadn't replaced the lightsaber he had lost at Bespin. Blaster in his hand, though pointed at the ground, Luke stared at the Sith Lord.

"It won't do you any good," rumbled Vader. His voice echoed in the enclosed space of the hall. "Neither against me nor it."

"Maybe it makes me feel better," replied Luke quickly.

"The Force would be a better ally than that blaster," replied Vader. He took a step forward and Luke used the wall to help him slide back two steps.

The Sith Lord stopped moving forward. He tilted his head and looked down at Luke's foot. The boy was standing with his back pressed against the wall. His left foot held most of his weight, with the right foot barely touching the ground.

"How injured are you?" demanded the Dark Lord.

"Why would you care?" snapped Luke.

"You are my son," replied Vader. His voice growled and the Dark Side swirled around Vader.

"That didn't stop you from dueling with me at Bespin," replied Luke. His voice was tight with emotions. "Or cutting off my hand!"

The boy raised his right hand. It didn't end in a stump, like the last time the Sith Lord had seen it. In fact, unless someone knew that it wasn't the boy's real hand, they would think it was.

The Sith Lord pondered the boy's words. Luke was correct. Being Vader's son had not stop the Dark Lord from dueling with the boy. He had wanted to test Luke. As Commander of the Imperial Navy and heir to the Imperial throne, Vader had wanted to know how skilled his son was. He wanted to know if the boy was a suitable heir for him. The Dark Lord could admit it had been ego and it had ended terribly.

"I regret Bespin," replied the Dark Lord. The words were spoken softly. "That was not how I intended it to go."

Luke's eyes snapped over to Vader. He opened his mouth to speak, but Sith Lord raised his hand.

"But we must focus on now," continued the older man. "And determine how best to get you away from the creature."

The boy sighed and put the blaster back in the holster on his hip. The only other sound in the hallway was the Sith's breathing. With both hands free and available to catch himself if he fell again, Luke attempted to put weight on his foot. The leg seemed better, but his ankle still felt weak.

"What is it?" asked Luke. The blond's curiosity was stronger than his desire to get away from the man who claimed to be his father. Luke glanced toward the chamber, but didn't see any signs of the being.

"A shadow creature, made from the Dark Side of the Force. To survive, it feeds on the Light," replied Vader.

"Can it be stopped?" asked Luke. He returned his attention to the Dark Lord.

"It cannot be killed, if that's what you mean, though it grows weak if it does not feed regularly," responded the Sith.

"Like a...vampire?" asked Luke in disbelief. He had heard stories of such creatures, but didn't think they actually existed.

Darth Vader tilted his head, considered what Luke had asked, then nodded his head once.

"But if it feeds on the Light Side of the Force, why hasn't it died?" asked Luke.

"What do you mean, young one?" replied Vader.

Luke ignored the "young one" comment. "The Jedi have been dead for years. Decades. What has it been feeding on?"

"It does not feed solely on Jedi," stated Vader. There was some anger in his voice when he mentioned the Jedi. "The Force is in all things."

"I know that," replied Luke. The young man could almost hear Master Yoda's words, after Luke had failed to lift his X-Wing from the swamp. Life creates it. Makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us...between you, me, the tree, the rock. Everywhere.

"The prey does not have to be a Force Sensitive for it to feed. As long as whatever it is clings to the Light, the creature can drain the being's life."

"What about beings who use the Dark Side of the Force?" asked Luke. He shifted his gaze from Vader to the empty chamber. "If it captured a being who didn't use the Light Side of the Force."

"It cannot feed on the Dark Side of the Force."

"What would happen if it tried?" asked the young man. Luke turned his attention back to Darth Vader.

"It would lose more energy than it gained," replied the Sith Lord. He shook his head once. "It would be a wasted effort."

The boy nodded his head. He shifted his attention to the empty chamber again. Though he couldn't see anything, he felt like he was being watched.

"You discuss it as if you've met it before," said Luke, as he shifted his attention back to the man standing in front of him.

Vader looked away from the boy and toward the empty chamber. "Yes, my son. I have." Vader fought the memories. Skywalker's memories. The meeting had taken place before the suit, before the galaxy knew him as Darth Vader, and before the Clone Wars. While he had escaped it, someone else...someone Anakin had considered a friend...had died to feed the creature. His death had allowed the others to escape.

"So, what now?" asked Luke. The blond looked away from the chamber and down the hall away from the chamber. "Do you think it...she was lying and there is a way out of here?"

Vader glanced down the hall also, but turned his head back to face his son. "The last time I was here, there wasn't an exit."

"Do you think we could wait her out and jump back across when her guard is down?" asked the boy.

"No," replied Vader. The Sith Lord faced his son and stared at the boy. "It knows we have to come back through its chamber."

"Then how did you get out?" asked Luke, as he turned his head and looked at Vader. "The last time you met it?"

"We did not all make it out," replied Vader coolly.

The boy sighed. Through the Force, Vader could hear the boy's thoughts. And it has no reason to attack you, which makes me the main course. His eyes had shifted from the Sith Lord and stared intently at the doorway to the chamber.

"It will not come to that!" stated Vader. The Dark Side of the Force moved around the Dark Lord. It rippled in angry waves.

Luke startled at the sudden outburst, then realized that the Sith Lord had responded to the thoughts in his mind. It shouldn't seem odd that Vader had read his mind. They had used the Force to communicate before. But thoughts of that conversation reminded Luke of Bespin and he did not want to dwell on that encounter.

"How long ago was the last time you were here?"

"Why?" Vader demanded.

"The layout may have changed over the years," replied Luke. He looked down the hall, away from the chamber. "Maybe there wasn't an exit before, but there is now?"

"You suggest we explore this side, my son?" asked Vader. His words seemed cautious.

"Better than doing nothing," replied the boy. Luke ignored the "son" comment, just as he had ignored it the previous time Vader had said it.

The blond shifted his weight and attempted to put some pressure on the leg that the creature had attacked. Though it still seemed weak, Luke felt it wouldn't collapse under him like it had before. He limped away from the chamber and down the hall. Vader followed.