Lien and Jirin walked side-by-side through a quickly growing blizzard. Huddling close to try to keep warm, their bond increased through their trial. Despite the far from ideal situation, each had to agree that they very much enjoyed being so close. They wee headed back to their cave from an expedition out to where Lien's ship had been.
Without warning, an incredibly
powerful gust threw Jirin solidly against a tree trunk, actually causing the
entire tree to shake. Slumping to the
ground, his surprise doubled when a dead body fell from the tree. It was hard to tell how long he had been
dead, but how he died was made clear once Jirin realized he had been cut in
half at about the waist. It was still
somewhat possible to determine a few of his features. He had been thin, and extremely pale even in life, with long,
stringy black hair.
Jirin looked curiously at the
black robes the body wore. It seemed
like another black cloak had been thrown over him, possible to hide the
body. Wondering who the man could have
been, a glint of sunlight reflecting off of metal caught his eye. The source was next to the body, and had
likely fallen out of the tree with it. He pushed aside some snow to get a better look…
The young Jedi's heart went
cold. His mind was numbed. The utterly
unspeakable shock that washed over him, and the pain he felt were like a
physical blow to the gut. He doubled
over, trembling, unable to control himself. In his pain, one word echoed in his mind. Sith…
He looked up to Lien, hoping to see
that his fear was unfounded, but saw only reluctant confirmation. His pain pushed him to a breaking point he
never would have guessed existed. He
didn't care about light or dark, he didn't care about what happened to either
of them. He didn't care about
anything. Lien's lightsaber lifted off
the ground and shot toward her as Jirin stood and activated his own. Lien caught the weapon, but refused to turn
it on.
"Do it," Jirin said, tears in
his eyes.
"No," Lien was on the verge of
breaking down.
"Use it!"
"No! Please…" she pleaded, "I love you…I always will…"
With an anguished cry, Jirin
charged, blade up.
Lien stood horrified as she
watched him approach. "Please…"
When he was only a few feet
distant, she turned away and threw up her hand, "No!"
A stone flew up from beneath the
snow, and struck Jirin directly in the center of his chest. He froze as his heart stopped, just before
he dropped face-first into the snow, dead.
Lien went to his body and held
onto him. "I'm sorry…your way was right…you
were right…"
Yet in her heart, she knew she
was once again hiding the truth…
