Chapter 6
Ahsoka gently hits the ground kneeling, her head down. She simply waits, sensing the multiple insurgents surrounding her. While their movements are silent to most humans, to Ahsoka they're loud and clear, her montrals buzzing with activity. Slowly, they walk toward her.
Curiosity quickly turns to fear as Ahsoka's sabers ignite, casting an eerie blue glow over the landscape, the hum of her weapons deafening in the silent air.
In the blink of an eye she flips, cutting down the first of her opponents. She quickly moves through the night, cutting down insurgents.
The enemy thoroughly distracted, Rex and James make their insert at the bottom of the ridge, the helicopter rising back into the night sky.
Looking up, they see the blue flashes of Ahsoka's lightsabers, the sound of gunfire echoing. A few minutes more and silence. The light disappears, a dark figure silently making the several hundred foot drop from the top of the ridge.
James jumps as Ahsoka taps him on the shoulder. "Well, aren't you a little jumpy?" She states.
James is speechless, Rex slapping him on the back.
"Let's get moving." Ahsoka says quietly.
The first rays of dawn are peaking over the horizon. Ahsoka steps to the edge of the cave, watching the sunrise, James joining her.
"I've seen a lot of sunrises, James. But I've never seen any quite like these." Ahsoka says.
"While I can't say the same, they are beautiful." James agrees, turning to look at Ahsoka. A few seconds later and she turns to look at him, their eyes locked. Finally Ahsoka looks away, back to the sunrise.
"Hey, you're going to want to see this." Rex says, walking up to them just as the last of the sun comes over the horizon.
"What is it?" Ahsoka asks, curious.
"It's the cave. It's huge." Rex answers, Ahsoka and James following him back into the cave.
They squeeze past the small tunnel behind their makeshift camp, leading to a cliff overlooking a massive chamber going deeper. Stepping closer to the edge, Ahsoka feels a tug in her gut, urging her to go down.
"I'm going to explore. I'll be back soon." Ahsoka says, calling one of her sabers to her hand, igniting the azure blade. She nods to Rex, then leaps off the cliff, falling and falling.
Finally, she lands, her lightsaber lighting everything around her. In the distance she can hear falling water. With only one way to go, she continues deeper into the cave.
Reaching the waterfall, she makes another leap into the black. She lands gently, moving her saber around. The water glitters in the light of her blade, but something beneath the surface glitters as well.
She reaches into the icy water, grabbing one of the thousands of crystals littering the riverbed.
"Ahsoka."
Ahsoka turns toward the sound of the voice, but no one is there. She stands at the ready, waiting.
"Here, child." The voice calls again, from the opposite direction. Ahsoka turns again, recognizing a familiar yellow-green glow on the opposite riverbank.
"But you're- You died." Ahsoka stammers out.
"There is no death, only the Force." The hovering image of the Daughter says, smiling.
"But how are you here?" Ahsoka asks.
"I can manifest in areas strong with the Force. Like this one." She states, calling the crystal Ahsoka had picked up to her hands, the stone suddenly shining white.
Ahsoka gasps in disbelief, "These are Kyber crystals?"
The Daughter nods, "They are. You wield the weapons of a Jedi, yet you are not. My time in this form is limited. Continue deeper, you will be tested. Now, I must go."
"Wait. I have one question. What happened to Anakin Skywalker?" Ahsoka asks, a look of pleading in her eyes.
The Daughter frowns. She drops her head, beginning to fade.
"He has fallen." She says as the last of her fades into the black.
Ahsoka drops her blade, falling to her knees, not wanting to believe it, but knowing it to be true.
She stands up, knowing she can't undo what's been done. As requested, she continues into the unknown sea of darkness, following the river.
Eventually she comes to a large room, a lake filling most of it. The light of her saber glitters off the crystals, spreading light throughout the room.
Suddenly, a warning through the Force. Ahsoka ducks, narrowly avoiding decapitation by a crimson blade. She calls her second lightsaber to her hand, igniting it. She blocks the scarlet blade, holding the saber lock.
Her defense falters as the figure gets close enough to illuminate their face.
"Anakin?"
He takes advantage of her mistake, pushing her blades back, kicking her in the stomach, her sabers flying away from her. Coughing, she stands up. As she breathes in her chest lights up in pain, a broken rib.
The dark Anakin slowly marches toward her, calling one of her own blades to his hand. She notices only one of his eyes yellow, the other sky blue.
"Anakin! Why are you doing this? What happened to Padme?" Ahsoka asks him. He stops, the yellow iris partially filling with blue. A moment later and it fills with a deeper yellow, his advance continuing.
Seeing no other way, Ahsoka calls her remaining blade to her. The sapphire blade creates a stark contrast with the ruby blade of her opponent, a slight essence of fear in Ahsoka's eyes.
"I don't like it. She's been gone too long." Rex says, worried.
"I told you before, even if something did happen, we have no way of getting to her. We can't just jump and hope for the best like she can. That drop could be hundreds of feet for all we know. We'll just have to wait." James explains again.
The radio near the cave entrance crackles to life, "Foxtrot, come in."
"Foxtrot three, go ahead." James says.
"Target has moved, prepare for immediate extract. Transmitting coordinates now."
"Well, shit." James curses.
"No kidding." Rex agrees, standing up.
He walks back to the cliff edge, yelling "Ahsoka!"
Her name echoes into the black with no response.
"We got the coordinates; extract isn't far from here. They'll be here at sundown, so she has some time." James states.
Ahsoka struggles under the dual-bladed onslaught, not used to single-bladed combat. The dark Anakin slams his elbow into her face, pushing her back. In her moment of hesitation, his lightsabers come up and strike. Ahsoka barely manages to dodge, but not entirely.
She screams as both sabers make contact, burning her flesh. One down her right brow, matching Anakin's scar, another across her left montral. She falls to the ground, seizing from the pain.
Anakin approaches her, red and blue blades held to his side, watching the tears stream from Ahsoka's eyes.
"Master, please. Help me. Anakin, please." Ahsoka gasps out, barely able to breathe. The Sith lord pauses, the yellow in his eye retreating completely. The lightsabers fall the ground, the blades retreating. The darkened figure of Anakin fades from existence, only Ahsoka's two lightsabers left behind.
Ahsoka snaps awake, screaming in pain. Her montral and face hurt. Looking around, all she can see is darkness. Feeling the ground near her, she feels one of her lightsabers.
Igniting it, she sees her environment. Memories come flooding back to her, the duel, the injuries, Anakin. Realizing her face is covered in blood, she grabs some bandage, carefully wrapping it around her montral.
"Rex." She whispers, not knowing how long she had been there. Through the light she sees her other saber. She carefully bends down, picking it up. Seeing a sparkle near the hilt, she looks closer and sees two glittering crystals.
Picking them up, they glow bright white. She pockets them, carefully making her way back upriver.
Both Rex and James are fidgety, worried for Ahsoka. Sundown is in a few hours and still no sign of her.
Suddenly they hear a feminine grunt, Ahsoka landing atop the cliff. She steps forward, clutching her montral, breathing heavily.
Rex and James run up to her, "What the hell happened?" James asks.
"I'll tell you later." Ahsoka says, accepting their arms to support her.
"You'll have plenty of time to. We extract in a few hours. Target moved." James adds.
"That may be a good thing. I don't know how much farther I can make it." Ahsoka states.
"Can you walk to extract? It's a mile southeast." Rex asks.
"Yeah, but don't expect me to be fast. God, my head hurts." Ahsoka says, sitting down.
"Here, drink some water." Rex tosses a bottle of water to James, handing it to Ahsoka.
She gratefully sips the water. Rex looks at her brow closer as she drinks, realization hitting him.
"Ahsoka, is that a lightsaber wound?" He asks, more concerned than ever.
Author's Note 6-21-2021:
That one was a joy to write. Passed 420 views a few hours before posting this. AYYYYYYY. Fonzi.
Q&A:
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