Chapter 1
There was nothing but blackness all around her, an empty void as far as she could see. She tried to walk around to find a way out but even if she moved her legs she felt like she was not moving at all. Time felt like it did not exist here at all, she did not know if she was here only for a short time or for an eternity. Worse of all she could not remember who she was, she saw some images but she could not piece them together. She remembered a sandy world and a blond boy.
As she walked around the black void a red light appeared in front of her, it was crimson in color and bright almost blinding. Something told her to go towards it but she wasn't certain if she should, standing there just watching the light.
"This might be a way out of here," she thought. She took an uncertain first step towards it but stopped again. "What if it is not."
Then she heard a voice, it was feminine, distant yet near, "It is the way out," the voice said. She looked at the light that was slowly starting to fade. "Go before its too late," the voice urged her. Looking at the light she knew she had a choice to make, go there and maybe get out of this void or stay here forever. She made her decision and listened to what the voice told her, running as fast as she could. The light was fading faster now and she feared she would not make it. The red light began to flicker and she tossed herself through it just as it was about to disappear after that darkness came to her again.
She felt cold stone on her skin, all over her body. She took a breath, the air was damp but she could breathe and it was when she opened her eyes and slowly lifted herself up from the stone, breathing heavily and frantically looking around. The place she was in now was dark but not as dark as the void, there was light there. Looking up she found the source of the light, large red crystalline structures on the ceiling.
"At least there is light," she thought. She finally managed to slow her breathing and compose herself somewhat. She looked around and realized that she was in a large room, she saw large columns that stretched from the floor to the ceiling and strange markings on the walls. The walls and columns were made out of the red rock as was the floor she was sitting on right now.
She pulled herself to her feet, trying to walk but it felt like she was using her legs for the first time. She stumbled around, slowly managing to get her barrings and walk with more certainty. She looked around once more and spotted a door in a middle of a wall. "The way out," she thought.
She pushed at the stone door but it would not move, its weight was too much for her. Putting her back to the door, she fell to the floor once more. "There has to be a way out," she told herself.
"There is," a voice said and her head shot up looking around the large room once more. There was no one there, no one beside her. "There is someone," the voice said once more, the voice she recognized, it was the voice from the void.
She got up on her feet "Where are you? Show yourself!" she shouted.
"I'm here," the voice said from in front of her and she could see nothing but a rock box in front of her. No, not a box a sarcophagus. Then a shadowy figure appeared in front of the sarcophagus, soon it became an outline of a person made out of blue light.
"Who are you?" she asked the thing in front of her.
"I'm the one who can help you get out of here. The real question is who are you?" She tried to remember to she was, the memories were cloudy but they were there. She needed to remember, she had to remember. Her breathing became frantic again and she grabbed her head. Then finally she remembered.
"Shmi, my name is Shmi." she said. She remembered, she remembered who she was.
"Well, Shmi my name is Acina."
"Where are we, what are you?"
"We are in a tomb, one that has been sealed for a long time," the thing said "And to answer the question what Im you can say that I'm a ghost of a bygone era."
"What happened to me, how did I get here?" Shmi asked.
"That is a question that you already have an answer to, all you need to do is remember." the ghost said in a calm tone.
Shmi tried to remember how she got here, what had happened to her. She was bits and pieces before the memory finally came back to her, she died. She died on a desert word at the hands of Tusken raiders.
"I died," Shmi said in a broken tone.
"That you did."
"Then how I'm alive? I'm alive I'm not?"
The ghost nodded "You are, you have been brought back to life."
"How?"
"The force is a key to made abilities, although some of them are hard to master."
"You brought me back, why?"
"I did not know who I would restore to life, I only knew someone would be brought back, and here you are. It seems that the force is with you."
"The force," Shmi said, that was something familiar. Then she remembered a tale, about people who had the force, Jedi. "You are a Jedi."
The ghost chucked "No I'm not a Jedi but I'm force sensitive like them." Shmi thought about what the ghost said, not a Jedi. "You wish to leave this place?"
"I do," Shmi answered.
"Well I do too, but neither of us can do it alone. The only way for us to get out of here is to work together."
"What do you have in mind?"
"Come closer, if you are to leave this accursed place you are going to need my help.
"And how is that?" Shmi asked.
"You can't leave this place without opening those doors and for that, you would need the force and I need someone who can actually walk out of here."
"How do I know I can trust you?" Shmi asked warily.
"We both want the same thing, to leave this place. You have my word that you can trust me." the ghost said. "You wish to live again, don't you?" The ghost outstretched her hand "Take my hand and we will leave this place behind."
Shmi wasn't sure what to do, on one hand, she wanted nothing more than to leave this place, she was not eager to die again but on the other, she didn't know anything about this spirit that offered her help. The ghost spoke with such certainty in her voice, that it did give Shmi some ray of hope. She thought about it and once again looked at the ghost and its hand still outstretched, waiting for her to take it. In the end, her desire to get out of here prevailed. Shmi walked forward towards the sarcophagus looking at the ghost in its red eyes. She slowly lifted her hand and put it only the palm of Acinas hand.
The next thing she knew there was a bright blue light, a surge of unfamiliar energy going through her entire body lifting her off the ground. At that moment she felt it, felt the force and its power, she felt something going inside her, going deep. Soon the light faded and she fell on the red stone, her breathing a lot calmer than before.
She examined herself, there was nothing out of the ordinary about her but she knew something was different than before, she could feel it.
"Congratulations, it worked," Acinas voice echoed inside Shmi's mind.
Shmi looked around but could not see the ghost anymore "Where are you?" she asked.
"I'm here, within you, I'm a part of you now."
"You are a voice in my head."
"In a manner of speaking yes, but I'm much more than that."
"You are saying we are one now."
"You can say that." Shmi wasn't sure how she felt about having another being inside her.
Shmi sighed "So how do we get out of here?"
"I already told you, you need to use the force to open those doors."
"How?"
"Go to them first," Acina said and Shmi did as instructed, "Now lift your hand towards the door."
"Like this?" Shmi asked as her hand was pointed in the direction of the door.
"Yes, now you want to open the door, focus, use the force." Shmi closed her eyes and focused trying to do as she was told but nothing was happening.
After a long moment of trying she put her hand down "It's not working," she said annoyed.
"You need to focus. The force is a part of you as it is a part of all living things, use it. Now try again." Shmi lifted her arm and tried again, this attempt failed as well, but on the third, the door started to move apart. She managed to move them just enough for one person to walk through.
She walked threw the old corridors of the ancient tomb, she didn't know how she knew where to go but she presumed it was Acina guiding her. "I'm," Acina said. As she walked she noticed that some parts of the tomb are or were in a process of falling down.
In front of her, she saw a downed crystal that stood in the middle of the hall. She took several steps towards it and saw her reflection. She looked almost the same as she did in her vision, but now she looked healthier, stronger, and not covered in blood and bruises. Her hair was brown, as were her eyes. She looked down and realized that she had no clothes on her.
"I brought you back, I cant bring back clothes," Acina said in an amused tone.
"You think it's funny?" Shmi asked.
"A bit." Acina said snickering."I have been trapped inside this tomb for eternity, you will allow me to have some fun."
"Why did you not try to escape earlier?"
"It's not that simple, I could only do it now."
They proceeded to make their way out of the stony tomb until finally at the end of a hall she saw sunlight. As Shmi exited she took a breath of fresh air and look at her surroundings. The world reminded her of Tatooine somewhat. There were entrances to what seemed to be other tombs scattered all around.
"What is this place?" Shmi asked.
"This is where those like me were laid to rest after their deaths and the world's name is Korriban," Acina explained.
"Doesn't sound familiar."
"It's been barren for thousands of years, you are probably the first living person to walk on it in a while."
"So what now, considering it's barren we should find a way off this rock."
"I agree, our best option would be to go in the direction of the spaceport, we maybe find something there but the more plausible option would be to find a way to send a distress signal and hope someone comes for us."
"I got nothing better, so show the way."
"Follow the valley road towards those tombs, on foot it should take us five or six hours to reach it." Walking threw the valley Shmi could few the dark energy coming from it but she decided not to pay much attention to it and focus on getting out of here. After several hours of walking down the path, her bare feet started to ache but she pressed on, not having any other options. As she made her way through the Waley of the Dark lords, Shmi heard voices coming from in front of her.
"More ghosts?"Shmi asked Acina.
"No," Acina said and Shmi hid behind a large rock, pocking her head from behind in to see who it was. She could see four people at an entrance of a tomb and soon two more came out of it, both carrying something. "Tomb robbers," Acina said. She looked around and saw that the robber's ship was nearby but she the only way of reaching it was going through them.
"We should go back and hide, wait for them to leave. We got nothing to fight them with." Shmi whispered and turned around wanting to walk away only to be met with a blaster pointed at her face.
"What do we have here?" a man, a Twilek asked holding his blaster pointed at her. "Get up," he said harshly and she complied. "Move," he directed her towards the other raiders, she didn't want to go there but she had no choice. As they approached the group the Twinkle shouted "Look at what I found!" and everyone turned to look at them, more specifically at her.
Another man, a human whistled "That's quite the find Doz," She stopped walking but he then walked up to her. "Where did you find her?"
"Hiding behind that rock boss," the Twilek pointed at the rock she was hiding behind moments earlier.
The man grabbed her face "So what's a pretty thing like you doing here?"
Shmi was getting scared "Don't touch me," she said.
"Why not?" The man said and put his hand over her mouth. "What will we do with you?"
"Maybe she can join us," a twilek female said mockingly. The man in front of her looked at her from head to heel and smiled.
"No, I think she would make a fine slave. I know a hut who could use another dancer or servant." the man said with a smile. "He will pay good money for a slave like you." Shmi did know why but the thought of being a slave replaced the fear with rage. She was not going to let someone sell her into slavery just after he came back to life.
"Maybe I can help?" Acina said in Shmis head.
"How?" Shmi asked.
"I'm tired from bringing you back but I still have some power, I can get us out of here if you let me take the reins for a moment." Shmi looked around, there was no other option. Then to make things worse another raider came to them, he was holding something.
"Hey boss, I managed to get these working again," the raider handed two cilindar-shaped objects to the leader who smiled and handed them back.
"Good, should fetch fine prince on the market," The leader said to the raider and then returned his gaze to her "Now legs get back to you. Doz get her into the ship and tie her up."
"No," Shmi said.
The leader had a look of surprise on his face "What was that?"
"I said I'm not becoming a slave!" Shmi shouted in rage.
"Oh yes you will," the man said and started bringing his fist towards her face but she caught it, everyone there looked on in surprise. Shmi felt herself going back inside herself and letting something else out, more specifically someone. Shmi eyes turned yellow and a large sinister smirk appeared on her face. The man in front of her watched with her confusion.
"You are my ticket out of here," she said but it was not her voice, it was Acinas. What happened next she did not expect. Acina outstretched her hand and the two calendar object came flying to her. She grabbed them and took a look at them. "These will do," she said and ignited them, red blades coming out of them.
"Jedi!" shouted one of the raiders. The leader tried to reach for his blaster but before anyone knew it a red blade came through his back. He lowered his head looking at the blade that pierced his chest with shock. Acina removed the blade and the man's body fell down on the red sand, all other raiders looked on in disbelief and fear.
"Kill her!" shouted the twilek behind her but she just cut his head off in a simple motion and turned her attention to the others. The robbers started shooting at her but she deflected the bolts back at them with ease, three more fell to the ground. A large trandoshan rushed at her but she flipped over him and used her sabers to cut him in half. Two more remained, as they watched the body of their comrade laying on the sand cut in half they lowered their blasters and started running towards their ship.
Acina used the force to stop them in their tracks and pull them towards her "That was a mistake," she said and snapped their necks with the force. The bodies fell down and Shmi saw what power her new companion had. Before she knew the control of her body had been returned to her, Acina went back inside her mind. Her muscles ached all over her body and her breathing was uneven.
"Y-You killed them all," Shmi said as she looked at the bodies scattered around.
"I had no choice, it was either them or us. They wanted to sell you, did you want that?"
"No," Shmi said as she looked at the two bodies in front of her "Let us just get out of here."
"A fine idea," Acina said. They made their way to the raider ship. The cargo bay door was opened and Shmi entered it to find it full it artifacts from those tombs.
"Might prove useful," Acina said. As they moved towards the cockpit Shmi heard something coming from behind one of the crates. She walked towards it and found the source of the noise, an old-looking astromech droid. The droid moved back until it hit the wall, not being able to move anywhere else.
"Hey little guy, don't worry I won't hurt you," Shmi said to the droid. She felt pity for the droid. "You can come out." The droid stayed there, not moving.
"Leave him, if he wants to join us he will if not, we can leave him here," Acina said. Shmi didn't want to leave the poor droid all alone on this desolate planet. She moved to the wall where several buttons were and pushed the one that closed the door. Moving her head to look at the crate she could see the droid pocking his head to look at her before hiding behind the crate again.
"Let us go to the cockpit," Shmi said and walked away. She looked at the controls and realized that she does not know how to fly a ship.
"Don't worry yourself about it, I know how to fly a ship. This might be a bit different than when I last flew but it's similar enough," Acina said. "I will tell you what to do."
With Acinas guidance Shmi managed to get the ship to the planet's orbit, countless stars could be seen threw the glass and Shmi looked at them in awe.
"Beautiful, int it?" Acina asked.
"Yes," Shmi answered.
"I felt the same the first time I saw it."
"Where should we go?" Shmi asked.
"Honestly I don't know but considering that this ship does not have a full tank of fuel I suggest going to the nearest place where we can refusal," Acina said and Shmi agreed. Being stranded in the middle of nowhere because of a lack of fuel is a bad idea.
"How do I do this?" Shmi asked.
"See the lever on the right, that is used to the hyperdrive, all you need is to punch in the coordinates and push that lever." Shmi looked at the screen in front of her.
"The nearest planet that has a port is few hours away."
"Then that's where we are going."
Shmi put in the coordinates and pushed the lever and soon they were in hyperspace, blue light all around them as the ship flew. It was mesmerizing for Shmi to see something like that for the first time. When she was done gazing at the view in front of her she looked at herself.
"We should probably find some clothes," Shmi said.
"I agree," Acina responded. They made their way around the ship and found the crew's quarters. Shmi scavenged through the rooms, finally finding the clothes that would fit her. A pair of blue pants, brown boots, a white shirt, a belt and a coat made out of fur of some kind. "You look just like a smuggler," Acina said "Should fit right in everywhere."
"Thanks I guess," Shmi said. Making her way to the part of the ship with a holo table and a sofa she sat down and closed her eyes. "How did you do that?"
"What do you mean?"
"The think down at the planet, the fighting, the force."
"Years of training my dear, you don't become a skilled master like that overnight."
"Did you fight a lot, when you were alive, I mean in your past life?"
"I did actually, I lead soldiers into battle and defended words from invaders."
"What happened to you, what caused your death?" Shmi asked and could feel Acinas discomfort.
"I-I was betrayed."
"Oh I'm sorry to hear that."
"You have nothing to be sorry about, you have nothing to do with it. Actually, I'm the one who should thank you for helping me off that blasted rock on a planet," Acina said, the last part in a happy tone.
Shmi smiled "You are welcome." Shmi opened her eyes and looked at the table, a blaster sitting on top of it.
"Do you know who to use it?" Acina asked.
"No, not really," Shmi answered.
"Its no hard just point and shoot."
"Easy for you to say."
"Well I suggest you carry it around, the belt has a spot for a blaster. Once we arrive on the planet I will show you how to use it. You can never be too careful."
"Thank you."
"I can also teach you much more."
"What do you mean?"
"As I said I used a lot of my power in an effort to bring you back, I can swap places with you and take control over your body but only for a limited amount of time."
