Chapter 2
Reawakening
I work at a wood factory…
My job is to use a hand axe and chop down trees, toss the wood chunks into a wheelie, tie them up and wheel the wheelie down to the fire nation factory. The war effort there, it was something else. The machines they produced were nothing like the Mandalorian cruisers.
I wiped the sweat from my brow as the clumps of my dark hair fell into my vision. The rhythmic of my axe striking the hard oak reverberated in my ear like a calming orchestra.
Cut…
Cut…
Cut…
Those were the only way I could describe what I have been doing. Though, it felt strange…even though more hair fell into my eyes, I kept going. The oak slowly falling to the earth with a reverberating smash as it trampled grass.
My eyes could only focus ahead. I have been doing this for so long, to the damn point where it feels like instinct, it is better cutting down trees, than cutting down pe…
I squashed the memory from my mind. Forcing it into the back of my head, the smokes and the drinks help me forget, but there are times like this. My eyes went to the glistening of the axe, the way the sunlight hit the cool metal of the blade.
I groaned from the thought. How long has it been? Maybe one or two years, hard to remember at certain times. Revan's declaration of war against the Mandalorian threat, me and my master fighting, Malachor V and finally…my fall.
They come at me like vibrant strands of hot red heat, glistening at first like warm strands of sunlight. Though, they quickly become bitter and rotten. Smokes and drinks help me forget on the bad days when the memories will not leave, and the guilt blooms. But on worse days… I taste the barrel of my blaster.
I have been having more worse days lately…
My hands tightened along the axe. My fingers digging into it as I remembered them…the Jedi Council, the ones that wanted to sit on their ass while the rest of the galaxy burned around them.
I sneered as I slammed the axe into the fallen tree. My hatred fueling my blows to the fallen log, though the hypocrisy of the order did not matter anymore.
Ever since the day I crashed here…ever since I escaped the Sith order and abandoned the ways of the Jedi and Sith, everything has just been…quieter. And for the first time in what felt like years…I felt my lips part into a smile, felt like ice was breaking across my face.
"…Sometimes, I don't even feel like I ever was a true jedi."
The words came out of my mouth uncontrolled. Sith and Jedi…I was once a monster, but never again…I abandoned the force, and I plan too never…
My nose perked into the air like a blood hound. My eyes locking to the sky as the green oak branches tried to reach their flail hands to grasp the sun. "Cinder…"
The faint smell tickled my nostrils. I heard reports that the fire nation army around the village did not have a need for the village anymore. How the young men's fighting, and the sparks of revolution was just town gossip.
I did not think…
No, that is impossible. My home…the old man! The hard wooden handle of my axe slipped as it fell to the grass. My boots tracking up dirt from the forest as I sprinted towards the town.
This cannot be happening…even as I saw the smoke rising from the forest. Nearly clouding the very sky, I could not believe it. "Damn it…Damn revolutionaries!"
The fire nation was a bunch of pricks I get that, but holy fuck why would the young men of this town attack the factory or the guards, these guys know where they live. I heard about fire nation raids and what they do to towns which they bully. God, the old man…
The same old man that let me sleep in the apartment for free, the one that recommended me the job and even nursed me back to health when I crashed here. I grunted as I spat onto the ground due to my uselessness as I entered the forest clearing.
I was about to run into the village. Bits of burnt and destroyed houses in my vision. Though…my hands went to the base of the tree, my eyes peering into the soil next to it.
I never want to kill anyone ever again…
My knees dropped as a shudder vibrated through my legs. My fingers clawing into the dirt as I began to dig up the secrets of the past.
I never wanted this…I only wanted a normal quite life…
My hands closed along the bits of dirt as I wretched the box free from the earth. My eyes went to my hands, my copper skin glistened from the sun, the light reflecting my scared hands…bleeding and purple from the harsh abuse.
I unclicked the box as my hands shook. The blood of my fingers…dropped along the cyan metal, my fingers wrapping along the holster of the blaster. The blaster pistol, the next best thing to the powers and weapon I abandoned on that moon all those years ago.
My breathing stilled as I gazed down it. My left index finger, slowly placing the blaster on stun. "Don't want any more added to the body count, right?" A shudder ran through my body from the poorly timed joke.
The words did not do anything for me. A false promise, what is a few more bodies for a murderer like myself. A butcher, I am no Jedi…
My feet trampled through the woods as I threw myself through the dense bushes. My eyes locking around the town. It was bad…
Worse than I expected it to be. This town was successful medium size, not like the sprawling cities of the mid world planets. Those places were more machine than earth, such places were hard to feel in the force.
My hands closed along the blaster as I maneuvered around the strange homes. Bits of destroyed charred wood decorated the once even path as I made my way to the bar. I rounded the next corner as I pushed through the debris.
There were no people around…luckily, they were evacuated, and with that thought I saw him. The old man…
"Old man!" the words erupted from my mouth as I ran to him. The bar was on fire…the whole damn building was caved in on itself as the old man laid under the mass amounts of rubble. His bald forehead was dripping crimson, his right hand under the rubble.
"Benji…" He groaned as he reached out his left hand, I got closer as I grabbed his hand. Only to release due to his broken fingers causing him pain.
He gazed up at me, fierce blood coming from his coughs. "Benjamin, you got to run…the fire nation." The smoke was getting thicker, so thick that it was hard to see down the road. "You got to run; the revolutionaries here went too far, far enough where there destroying the town."
No…I will not leave him. "Old man, we got to leave now!" I screamed as I tried to use my strength to drag him out of the rubble. He screamed from the pain, but I was able to slightly get him out, the sounds of bone squealed as the…
A horrific scream echoed from down the road. My eyes training on it…the poor kid, the one that was with the girl. The boy who got scammed.
He was running down the road, his body flailing around…he was on fire. I could see it from far away, how he was lit up like the candle that burns to bright, his body falling to the floor as the fire nation soldiers erupted from the smoke.
There strange mask piercing through the darkness. They killed him…he was only just a kid, but they. My teeth sunk into my lip as I took out my weapon.
I pulled the trigger as the stun bolt shot free from the weapon. The unfamiliar kick of the recoil nearly launching me off my feet. One of the soldiers getting his straight in his chest as he struggled to get up.
I shot up from the old man as I held the blaster pistol with both hands, aiming delicately through the scope. "Old man, don't worry!" I spoke to him; I threw up a false smile, but I was afraid, pores of sweat going down my face from my very own fear and the trickling of fire. I did not have my weapon anymore; I did not have the force anymore…my lightsaber was gone.
"I'll deal with these bastards and I'll get you out of there!"
There fireballs erupted from there fist. I narrowly dodged as the ball of fire erupted like a massive explosion behind me. I shot from the hip as the soldier advanced. More were coming…
My gun quickly overheated as I saw the smoke rise from the barrel. "FUCK!" I screamed as I pulled the trigger again and again. The gun refusing to cooperate.
"Benjamin…go!"
No…never again. I will not leave them behind again, never again! I am going to die here, but I would rather die here a man than die a coward. I wonder…if because I embraced the darkness and killed for Lord Revan if I was going to still become one with the force.
This is it…
My hands closed into fist as I stared at the corpse of the boy. "No!" I shouted as I felt the anger soar through my body, the soldiers approaching me, nearly a dozen.
It was like a whisper…or a beat of a heartbeat, or the warmth of the sun without the glare. The power soared through me as I struggled to even breath, the smoke clouding my lungs as I felt the weight that my palms carried.
My palms released as I threw them open. The force traveling through them like a shockwave as the dozen soldiers of the fire nation were violently thrown away like scattered torches on a stormy night.
The resounding crack of bodies erupted from all around me. My breath evening as I looked around, they were slowly getting up and I…
My eyes locked onto my hands. "Why…"
This was it wasn't it? The death that has so very long chased after me, a death which I knew I could not avoid, it was right here only a couple of inches away. That should of have been my thoughts, but I was thinking about something else.
The force…the power which I casted away all those years ago, the power I violently severed myself from. Why, did I just use it?
Until…
A blast of wind threw me to my feet. The blast sending me flying to the floor as I braced my body for the impact. My eyes widened as I saw him…a boy with strange orange robes and a bald head, a strange tattoo running down like an arrow.
With a flick of his staff a burst of air slashed through the air as the fire nation soldiers began to rise again. My body felt soar and for a second, I was worried I broke a rib as I planted one foot and another as I threw myself up.
"It's the avatar." The old man whispered. My hands falling to the beam, though due to the fall and my already scared hands I could hardly gain any leverage of the beam.
The avatar…the young boy ran towards us. "What's going on!"
"Fire nation attacked; they burnt the whole damn town. Hurry up and help me out of this!" I shouted to the avatar.
"No…"
What…my eyes went to the old man as he shook his head. His head shaking as he looked at the avatar. Words coming between them as I was too distracted. Why…
I felt the tears begin to sting as I desperately tried to use the force again. But the pain was clouding my head too much, years of not using it made me feel like I was controlling a separate limb. Once again…the force abandoned me.
It was like all those years ago. When I failed to save them…
My collar was being pulled as the young avatar slunk his arm around my waist dragging me away. "What the hell are you doing!"
"Benjamin, run!" the old man screamed out. The sounds of fire nation machinery cutting through the forest erupted in my ears. They were going to destroy the town, destroy everything in their path!
"You were right all along. You did have the power…I saw you back there what you did to those soldiers. I believe in you!" Tears began to sprawl down his face. A faint smile. "Use it for good…Benji."
My whole body soared through the skies. My bleeding hands casting bloody drips as they fell to the ground like crimson teardrops. The old man's hand extended out towards me as I felt tears go down my face.
Memories of the Old Master
The boy sat on the edge of the camp; his eyes trained solely on the moon in front of him as his back rested along the massive rock. He looked down on his bandaged hands, the girl's water bending recently healing them, but the scars would forever remain.
There strange creature docked them on a mountain top. Safe, and far away from the prying eyes of the fire nation. The rough wind tickled the green grass.
His fingers delicately like an artist dug into his coat pocket as he fished into a small bag, his other hand combing through his hair. Pulling out a roughly rolled piece of tobacco as he pressed it against his mouth. He strikes up a match as he inhaled the strange smoke, emptying it from his mouth like a raging bull.
"…why do you smoke those things, Benji?" It was a voice, a voice without a crunch along the grass or discarded leaves. A voice he had not heard in a long time but can remember like it was yesterday. "Those hamper your connection to the force."
Her jedi robes clung to her in a blue mist. Her neck length brown hair falling behind her as her dark eyes stared at the boy. Benjamin slowly opened his eyes, only to slam them shut in annoyance. "…they help me forget, why the hell are you here…Master Surik?"
Benjamin glared at the spirit of his former master. She pouted as she stared at her former apprentice. "You've gotten bigger, your what 6'4 and you look like one of those athletes now. Not that young boy in the academy you used to be." Surik tried to compliment, only for Benjamin to sneer.
Benjamin sighed as he shook his head, placing the strange small box that held his smokes, back into his jacket as his head rested neatly on the block of stone. "That boy died in the Mandalorian wars. What do you want Surik?"
She pouted, the annoyance of her former apprentice…now so annoying and demanding. "I'm not so sure how I feel about my former padawan taking that tone with me. Remember, who as the one that taught you in the wars."
"You…honestly at this point I don't give a shit. I don't want to see you anymore." He glared at her as his lips parted once again. "I don't give a fuck what you have to say, stay away from me."
His words were crude and relentless as he quickly dispatched her words away. Though Surik just shook her head. She stared at her former apprentice, already knowing that she was asking for far too much. "The boy you're traveling with, the avatar. He needs help."
Benjamin's eyes peered over the rock as he watched the boy, and his friends sleep under the stars. "Yeah, so what. I don't need your help, but you keep bugging me."
She stared at him as he wiped the couple strands of dark hair from his emerald eyes. "This world has been at war for over a hundred years, this fire nation are monsters just like the…"
His face scrunched up as he turned to his old master. "Just like the Mandalorians!" He spat out as he pointed his finger at her, his voice was mangled like a stray animal, his expression rabid as he snarled his words. "What, what do you want me to do…huh? Accept the force once again, build another lightsaber…fight with this avatar?"
She nodded her head with a smile. "You were so talented before, don't you remember. I was going to be appointed to master and I was going to make you fully my padawan. Remember, that day when you went to me…how proud you were when you told me that you were also going to become a Jedi guardian like myself."
His hand struck the rock. A resounding smash of flesh sputtered from it as the woman stopped speaking, as the shock of what her apprentice did reached her ears. "But the war came…it came and destroyed everything. I was what twelve, or thirteen when I joined you and Revan." A snort came from the boy. "Revan, he welcomed me into his Revanchrist. Preached about the hypocrisy of the council, and for what…"
Meetra stared at what remained of her former apprentice. The drag of smoke filling from his lips as he avoided her gaze, his eyes focused on the stars above.
"Though you felt it before, didn't you?"
He did not turn to her. His lips parting once again. "It was like a whisper, and I felt angry…a torrent of rage. Not a power of the light, one of the tricks I learned from the sith academy on Korriban during the Jedi Civil War." He spat out the final words, disgusted in himself for using the power of the dark side again. "If I accept the force once again, I will surely fall to the dark side. I don't want to do this anymore, this endless fighting."
His gaze went to the sleeping trio. "They'll drop me off at the nearest town. After that we are done, not just with them but with you. Get out of my head…" There was a mixture of sadness littered in his voice, but he ignored that. Only taking another whiff of his smoke as he went back to pointlessly arguing with his former master.
She sighed emptying out her nostrils at her stubborn apprentice. "You need this, they need you…the war they are fighting, they need a Je.."
"Be a Jedi? Why!" He erupted, his hands slamming into his chest. Even though Meetra was a spirit she felt it, the rage and hatred that soared from her apprentice in that very moment. The weight he carried in his heart, the guilt he carried with him like a sword.
"I read the history. I know the tales of the dark Jedi Exar Kun…I know what that sick fuck did to the galaxy, or Freedon Nadd the sith lord and the famed jedi prodigy, of how the hypocrisy of the Jedi council made him fall, how that the whole damn Onderonian royal line comes from him or better yet Revan the man who waged war against the galaxy and turned me into a monster!"
His breathing was uneven as his breath rattled his core. His hand went to his chest as he pointed the other at Meetra. His old master only staring at his shoes at this point. "Do you want to know what these Jedi all got in common…there all just like me!" A snort echoed from him as he could only watch his master not catch his eyes. "Talented in the force, just like me. Do you know what that means, I have the better chance of falling just like I did during the war. It was a miracle that I abandoned the force and severed my connection."
"Time and time again, we fought valiantly for the galaxy. For the people, for the galaxy…but there is so much injustice. We Jedi believed we were the best, that while the Mandalorians were slaughtering, enslaving, and conquering the rim we thought it wasn't our problem."
He slammed his hand along his chest like an enraged gorilla. "I rejected their desire, a kid not even of sixteen killing Mandalorians, I fought against them…and what happened in the end. I failed and became a slave to Revan and the dark side!"
He shook his head as he flicked the burnt-out cigarette to the side. "I have no intention of using the force ever again or joining this avatar. Stay out of my head and stay the hell away from me!" He firmly growled.
His master's eyes locked back onto him. Her body moving closer to him.
"No…you're a Jedi and to correct this world the avatar needs your help!" Benjamin dug into his pocket as he loosened the holster of his blaster. "Running away from your responsibilities as a Jedi is the wrong thing to do!"
"Shut the fuck up!" Benjamin bellowed. His right hand aiming the barrel at the force ghost of his old master. His hand was shaking, the barrel violently moving as sweat barreled down his forehead. "I was free of you before, but now…I have no intention, this is my life." He pleaded.
"I'm a ghost…that blaster won't do anything to me." She mockingly smirked at her apprentice.
He sneered as he rested the barrel under his chin. Turning off the stun as his shaking finger readied along the trigger. "If you don't leave me alone, I'll end it…here and now." The boys breathing slowed, his finger along the trigger as his eyes darted to her like a rabid dog.
Meetra got scared…
The ghost stared at her fallen apprentice. Meetra threw up her hands as she slowly began to disappear. Knowing that she pushed him to far today, but not giving up yet. "Listen, today has been a rough day for you and I understand that. Though, we are going to speak again soon."
She disappeared as the blaster slipped from the boy's hand. His right hand reaching for his chest as he felt the steady beat of his heartbeat, the horrific pain of everything coming at him like a heartache that could never go away.
As the boy from the stars stared into the night sky. Unknown to him, this journey was far from over…and that path he rejected, both light and dark will once again reawaken inside of him.
It already began to…
Author Note
Well here it is the next installment of this story. Benji and team avatar will be formerly introduced in chapter 3. So far I'm enjoying writing this, but please follow, favorite, and review. It helps me know how many people are enjoying this story and it helps motivate me for the next chapter. I ain't wasting time to make chapters if this is not going to be read. But if it ever comes to that, just remember. It's not you its me. I'm just very needy, though I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Have a wonderful and awesome day and I will hopefully have the next chapter our by next week.!