The Nightbrother Chapter Four
Rama cannot tell if Maul is lying. The Force won't give any hints. The Zabrak's face doesn't offer anything but smugness with his lips and rage with his eyes. He wonders briefly if they are biological brothers, but finally dismisses it for father said he was the only child of sire. He thinks about the little Zabrak boy defeating all those droids until his fists were bloody; perhaps, this Zabrak was adopted by his sire ages ago. They are not brothers by blood, but they could be brothers through sire.
"You kidnapped me."
"I saved you."
"You used the Force and threw me into a wall. I could've died."
"If I wanted you dead, you would be." He vows.
"Okay, then why did you save me?"
"I have need of you."
"On Dathomir. I know nothing of Dathomir."
"Like you know nothing of the Barsen'thor's tomb? The Force gave you a vision."
"It didn't show me you." He half-lies. He cannot let the Zabrak know about his retrocognitive ability, but he'll let him believe he's precognitive in hopes that the Zabrak won't dispose of him so soon.
"You're like him."
"So, I've been told." Rama crosses his arms.
"Though your arrogance is unearned."
Hello, spiky kettle meet pot. Rama wisely keeps his tongue still.
"Are you going to keep me in this room forever?"
"How can I keep you forever when you've already left?"
"I've been here this entire time." Rama keeps his voice calm. Bad liars reveal themselves in high octaves or facial tics. The Zabrak stares at him for a moment before heading to the vent. In a flick of his wrist, he unscrews the last two screws and makes the vent open again.
"You have his vision, but none of his strength."
"I'm not made for telekinesis." Not like you.
"You'll never know if you don't try."
"What are you offering to teach me? I do have other teachers." Okay, I only have sire and Vader, but they teach me what they deem useful for my abilities.
"Are you truly content with only the scraps? Don't you desire true knowledge?" The Zabrak feigns a pitying look. "Or, perhaps, this is the limit of your abilities."
"I am a child with decades to improve myself. Can the same be said of you?" Rama challenges with impetuous anger. The Zabrak snarls but then goes still when the ship finally lands.
"Are you ready, Ghost, to see Dathomir?" The Zabrak taunts.
"I have a name."
"Prove yourself to me, and I'll consider it, Ghost."
Does he know I'm half-Umbaran? Or is it a slight jab against my "minor" Force abilities? Knowing him it's probably both.
"Very well."
They leave the ship, and Rama sees the land of Dathomir for the first time. Red mists roll over the craggy rocks. He sees few scraggles of green, the sole survivors in this wasteland. The Dark Side is powerful here but strange. The dark energies snap at him like a pack of foaming akk dogs. At his sire's palace, the Dark Side makes its presence unnoticeable like the best assassin. But here, the Dark Side is so aggressive and…wild.
"It's a long walk to the mountains, and I want to get there before nightfall."
"Don't slow me down." He really wants to hammer home that I'm weak. But I have the Palpatine will!
"You're in an awful hurry. Are you afraid of the cold, Zabrak?"
"I am no mere Zabrak." The Zabrak snarls.
"You never gave me your name, brother."
"Maul."
"Is that your real name?" I feel like there's something missing to it like a title or maybe a surname. He's glowering at me again like a very unamused cat.
"Enough questions. We have a long walk ahead of us."
Maul walks and all Rama could do is follow.
Waving away Senator Mothma's lecture on privacy rights, Sate goes through all of Hanna City's security feeds. He taught his son to use the blind spots in cameras, but there had to be one camera that caught his little boy. It takes him two hours to find the last known footage of his boy getting into an air taxi driven by a droid. It's easy for him to get the air taxi company to locate their vehicle. It leads him right outside the Crystal Canyons. He finds the droid in question hacked by a black box of Pestage design and sifts through the droid's memory banks.
Rama is silent throughout the ride and fiddles with the black box occasionally. Once the taxi stops outside the canyons, Rama hops out with an eager smile on his face. A few minutes later the sound of another engine cuts through the silence.
He switches to the outside camera.
A hooded figure pulls up by the taxi on a swoop bike. He goes into the canyon. Dozens of minutes later, he emerges with Rama over his shoulder like a sack of tubers. His little boy is laid across the figure's lap in much the same manner. They drive off to an untold destination.
He re-watched the footage for another hour before eye strain has him accept reality. He is no closer to figuring out where the figure has taken his son. He decides now to tell the Emperor.
"Yes, Sate?"
"Rama has been kidnapped!"
Hours later, Maul finally stops his trek at the foot of a craggy mountain. Rama breathes heavily and nearly begs for water, but the blank look on Maul's face warns him not to bother. The Zabrak points to a nearby well.
"The water is clean."
"And how can I be sure of that?" To his surprise, Maul goes over to the well and pulls up a bucket of water. He unties the bucket from the rope and then drinks directly from the bucket.
"It's clean." He holds out the bucket, and Rama takes it from him. He drinks greedily from the water until only half was left.
"You better keep the bucket with you. It's a long walk up the mountains."
Rama nearly groans aloud.
Author's Comments- No links this time.
Let's just say Rama's sass with Maul may have been learned from Kinman sassing Sate. Or maybe he gets it from Palpatine. It's probably both. Now, will Maul punish him for his sass? Well, hiking up a mountain is one way.
Next chapter: Rama gets a look at his new home, while Vader has a lot of feelings.