A/N: Roxy: thank you for all the comments along the way. I'm glad you
enjoyed my story! Thank you very much to all my other reviewers, your words
are sugar on my porridge. (
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Star Wars goodies featured in this story.
Chapter 8 - Escape
When everyone awoke again, Koja everyone seemed much more relaxed then what they had been before.
Koja smiled at Kairal and asked Taren if he was feeling better. The initiate said that he indeed was.
Kairal was chattering and laughing the moment she awoke, and it seemed that the night with Taren had indeed lifted her spirits and possibly set her mind at rest in regard to Jalekk's demise.
Following their normal ritual, the threesome quickly ate breakfast - Taren noticed that their food supply was diminishing - and packed everything. An hour after Koja had woken the others, all of them were on their way again and in high spirits.
The trip down the tunnel to the double mouth of the fork didn't even take that long, because they seemed to have a lot to discuss. The girls told Taren about the different worlds they'd visited, and about their friends. The young Sith in turn gave them his life story from as early as he could remember, even adding the /fond/ memories of their deceased companion.
They reached the end of the tunnel and Taren offered the girls his last bit of water - they hadn't been able to fill their canteens recently. They accepted and the trio set off down the right-hand tunnel.
The ground was sloping upward, and their spirits rose the higher up they went. However, when a cluster of round pockmarks became visible in the walls, they hastened on grimly, trying to shut out any memories that their minds naturally associated with these openings.
* * *
The tunnel finally ended against what looked like a huge pile of boulders and smaller stones.
The girls stared at it hopelessly, fearing the worst.
But Taren smiled sedately at them. "Don't worry - can't you feel that the temperature's dropped slightly? I can even feel a slight breeze!"
The girls stared at him in astonishment before breaking into excited shrieks. "We're getting out of here!" Koja shouted gleefully, totally out of character. "We've made it!"
Kairal almost leapt into the air and shouted the good news to Jalekk who was no doubt still watching from Ukari.
The Sith grinned at them before gesturing to the slanted, uneven rock wall they would be climbing. "Well, we'd better get going."
The huge pile of boulders they had to climb proved easy to navigate, even if it was tiring. The different-sized rounded stones seemed almost affixed to each other, and only seldom did one shift slightly from its position when they came in contact with it.
As Koja climbed, she noticed that the inclining wall was almost ramp- like, and she wondered how exactly so many boulders had fallen to form it.
They were a good fifty meters above the tunnel floor when Taren, who was in the lead by about two meters, suddenly called down, "We're almost at the top. There's another tunnel up here!" he stepped up onto another rock and added, "We'll be out very soon. I can definitely feel a cold draft now!"
The two girls grinned at each other. They could hardly believe that they were so close to open air again - after all this time.
Koja saw the initiate's feet disappearing as he stepped onto level ground above her, but he quickly knelt down on the edge to shine their way for them. "Come on, Koja." He held out his hand to assist her. She gratefully accepted. When the Jedi was standing on level ground once more, Taren also helped Kairal.
All of them could distinctly feel a gentle breeze whispering across their exposed faces. They rested for a few moments, with Taren trying to determine how high they'd climbed. Then they happily set off down what was no doubt the last leg of their underground journey.
After a small distance, Taren's torch showed that the passage wound into a curve, and they followed it.
When they had rounded the corner, Kairal suddenly exclaimed, "Look!" and pointed ahead.
The Sith gasped and quickly flicked off his flare torch. Koja grinned at what the darkness revealed. Up ahead was a small circle of pale blue light. Unable to contain themselves anymore, the threesome hefted their packs and started running to freedom. They laughed and shouted joyfully as they stumbled over the uneven rock floor.
A few moments later they were standing outside the cave in the icy air, blinking and laughing. They fell into each others' arms and stayed like that for long moments, almost drowning in relief. Then Taren broke away and fell to his knees, digging his fingers into the thin layer of snow. The soft, squishy mass felt so good underfoot. The wind stung his face, whipping through his hair. "I never thought I'd miss this wretched ice and cold!"
Koja stared up at the pale gray-blue expanse of the sky above and wanted to cry. "The Force be blessed.' She watched a flock of dark shapes flying doggedly overhead, heading away.
"Koja, look at the sun," Kairal breathed. "I never want to leave from its sight again."
At the Hapan's words, all of them turned their faces to the flaming reddish-rose orb high above. Although it gave no warmth, everyone realized that this small star was probably what they had missed most in the days under the ground.
Taren took another deep breath of the icy air, and started pulling on his mittens, parka and scarf; seeing this, the other two did the same.
Still grinning, he announced, "I know this place. Just over that hill is where a herd of steshma antelope breeds in summer." He wound a coal- black scarf around his neck. ''Irrchanor's about three kilometers away."
Picking up their packs, the rather overwhelmed trio headed off in the direction he'd indicated. "I used to help the older boys with their hunt when I was younger. The Masters sometimes sent them kill some antelopes for food. The hunters use only the Force to run the buck down and kill it . . . "
The rest of their short journey was spent in silence, and they three drank in everything they'd never thought they'd ever miss - the stubbly gray grass; the stunted, gnarled trees; the patches of snow as white as the mist hanging on the mountains of Naboo. There was also the wonderful gravelly, scratchy feel of loose pebbles and springy plants under their soles - in stark contrast to the hard, almost smooth rock floors they had been traveling over.
* * *
The weary trio came over a rise, and the Sith academy Irrchanor Kag squatted before them. Koja had never thought she'd actually consider such a view to be so beautiful and welcoming.
"Come on," Taren urged them on, breaking into a fast jog. "We're home!"
Quickly, the tired girls forced their legs into a fast walk, and they trotted down the hill after the Sith.
"Let's go in by the back door," Taren said, "The front doors are bound to be locked." He led them to a black door set in a high, gray-white wall. He pressed a button set behind a protective covering and the door slid aside, producing a gap exactly wide enough to let one person through at a time. The young Sith ushered them in.
Inside the small courtyard the air was still but cold, the walls protected the space from the winds. Straight ahead was a greenhouse set against one wall of the academy building itself. To the right of the hothouse there was a door leading into the academy. Taren preceded them to it and opened it. The girls filed in, and the warm air that smothered their exposed skin almost made them sigh.
Taren moved on ahead of them. "I have to tell Master Kashorm I've returned." The girls followed him down a corridor and into a hall. A few knots of Sith where in here, and Taren caught one of his fellows by the arm.
The other Sith apprentice shook his hand of. "What?"
"Do you by any chance know where Kashorm is?"
"I think I saw him going to his chambers, or maybe he's in the training hall with his student." the young Twi'lek replied, oblivious to Taren's appearance. "Now, if that's all . . .?" Without waiting for an answer, he turned back to his group.
Taren motioned to the girls and they wove their way through the people to the wide, arched doorway.
"First stop: my Master's chambers." The Sith led them down a few passages lined with doors, past a hall and into another doorway with two statues lining the sides. Koja noticed that the polished black figurines showed two Sith leaders - and she recognized the one - Marka Ragnos. The other was decidedly better looking, but she hadn't seen him before.
By now Taren had reached a closed metal door. He set down his pack and turned around to face them. ''You two, stay here and be quiet." The girls nodded and the Sith activated the door chime.
His Master's deep, familiar voice answered. "Enter, my young apprentice." there was no trace of emotion in the Gornyshian's voice.
Taking a breath, the young man opened the door and stepped into his Master's room. Taren had never been in any Master's suite before and looked around curiously. A rack standing on the floor to one side showed what his Master had taken from other worlds - a glowing plant, a skull of an alien, probably a former foe, and various pieces of glittering jewelry. A curved stand proudly displaying the dozen or so lightsabers Kashorm owned stood next to a small cupboard. The Master's bed was on a raised dais in the back of the room, along with a low writing desk. The pale light shining in by the wall-obscured window had to be intensified by a few glow-panels in the ceilings.
"Taren." His name uttered by the Master brought the Sith student's focus back to the matter at hand.
"Master," he returned, raising his eyes quickly to see Kashorm's familiar bulky form standing in front of the bed.
The Gornyshian beckoned to him. "Come closer."
Taren complied, moving so that he stood about a meter away from the step. He noticed a pretty human woman peeping out from behind his Master's thigh. As he lowered his eyes again, he saw that many worn, dyed black steshma hides carpeted the floor around the bed.
Kashorm looked at the boy, and for a moment pride welled up inside. He had always known that his student would come back successfully from the Trial. "I trust your friend Jeiltar's apprentice is already counting up his side of the story . . . ?" He wanted to see how the two had treated each other on the trip.
Taren bit his lip, focusing on the Master's ankles, staring at the polished whitish barbs. "Jalekk is dead, Master. He died in the caves because of the gas."
Master Kashorm shifted and he felt his slave's deft fingers sliding up his back. This was indeed startling news. But it made him all the more satisfied - he remembered that his student had memorized the tundra- half of the route. Kashorm seated himself on the bed, deeply impressed. This boy hadn't let the fact that the person who knew the way from those caverns had died unsettle him, and had found his way out alone.
The slave's slender fingers stroked his soft back fur, moving up to his shoulders.
"Student," he said. "The boy's slave will have to go back to where he got her from."
Taren chanced a glimpse at his Master. The slave seated behind him was twining her fingers around Kashorm's deadly horns. Her upper body was bare; so much became obvious as the Gornyshian untangled her from his head. The girl shook her hair out of her face, pouted, and defiantly sidled up behind the Master, started massaging his shoulders. She gave Taren a teasing wink and he quickly stared down at the floor again.
After Kashorm had regained his regal composure, he said to the boy, "I have selected a room for you. It is in the east wing, the room next to Hitra's - the student that left for Korriban last month."
Taren nodded. "I am grateful for your wise choice, Master." /Not/ that he had ever been in any of the rooms in that section of the academy.
"I will give you two day's leave - do whatever you want with them - but on the third day your training will continue. You will meet me in the Meditation Room two hours after sunup."
The young Sith smothered the smile that threatened to break out on his face. "Thank you very much, my Master." He turned to leave -
"One more thing, Taren." - and faced his Master again. "You must tell Jeiltar what has happened. Do that now."
Sighing inwardly, he nodded. "Your will, Master." Bowing, Taren left the room, closing the door behind him.
"'I'm getting two days off." he announced, beaming. Then his face fell. "Kairal, you have to go back to that room just off the Leader's Chamber. I'm sorry."
The brown-haired girl sighed but nodded understandingly. "It's all right. I'm sure no one will select me for Initiation /again./"
Taren led the way to the Chamber. "I'll make sure that you get a good shower and a proper meal. After all, if Jalekk . . . were still with us that's what you'd be getting."
Next to Koja, Kairal nodded silently. They stopped at some vaguely familiar doors engraved with gerr.
Koja smiled when she remembered Sitah.
Taren stepped back. "Give your things back to this woman, while I speak to Master Jeiltar." He left his bag next to the door and strode off down the corridor.
The Jedi knocked gently, and, seconds later the door slid open. Sitah's face immediately brightened. "Well, well. Look what the tauntaun dragged in!" With a well-trained eye she made a quick analysis of their conditions. "You two look positively dreadful, but I've seen worse. Nothing a good cleaning-up and a decent meal can't fix!" The raven- haired woman led them into her chamber. So, tell me, did my stuff come in handy; and how did the boys treat you?"
~
In front of Master Jeiltar's suite, Taren took a deep breath. Then he pressed the button to activate the door chime.
"Yes; what?" the Master's voice sounded irritated and weary.
"Great Master, I'm Taren, apprentice to Master Kashorm. I would speak with you."
"You may enter."
Jeiltar looked up from the archaic-looking star chart he had been studying. The room was dim as the only illumination came from the small desk lamp standing on the table next to the chart.
"You may speak," the Master said, voice sounding slightly husky. If it was said that Sith aged gracefully, then Jeiltar was definitely an exception. His sallow skin was drawn tight over his cheeks, and his tall frame was bony. A shock of white hair covered the Force teacher's balding scalp. However, Taren had seen this Master in mock fights and knew that appearance was not to be trusted.
"Sir, I regret to inform you that your student Jalekk passed on to the Force during Initiation."
"How did this happen?" Jeiltar said after a small pause, voice barely audible.
"In the caves, Master. It was an accident - the gas killed him." Taren added as if to quell any thoughts his late friend's Master might have had about his role in the matter. He glanced up at Jeiltar's shadowy features.
"What a waste of potential . . . Jalekk was a good pupil." The Master gave a small, cackling laugh. "Not good enough, it seems."
Taren bowed his head. "I'm sorry for your loss, Master." And he wondered what the man was hiding behind his façade of bitterness and that fragment of smoldering anger. Quietly, he waited for the old Master to dismiss him.
"And boy," Jeiltar's dry voice cracked like a whip through the silent room. "You would do well to remember that there is no such thing as an /accident./ Everything is meant to be. Jalekk's death was meant to be - it was his destiny." The Master paused as if going over the words again. Then he nodded slowly. "Yes . . . yes. You may leave, apprentice of Kashorm."
Taren bowed a bit shakily before leaving the dark chamber.
* * *
A half an hour later found them in Taren's new room. He was very impressed with its size and the /window./
His previous room had been a dark, windowless chamber. The refresher was bigger and even had a mirror. The floor in the main bedroom was strewn with white-speckled pale brown hides - those of steshma antelopes. The wider bed also seemed to have a lot more blankets, sheets and furs.
Koja was standing by the window, gazing at the sunset. Taren moved over to join her. "It's so beautiful." she murmured quietly, staring at the flaming orange orb resting in a fiery golden-white haze on the far horizon.
"I know something even more beautiful." Taren murmured back, gaze never leaving the dying sun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The End ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Star Wars goodies featured in this story.
Chapter 8 - Escape
When everyone awoke again, Koja everyone seemed much more relaxed then what they had been before.
Koja smiled at Kairal and asked Taren if he was feeling better. The initiate said that he indeed was.
Kairal was chattering and laughing the moment she awoke, and it seemed that the night with Taren had indeed lifted her spirits and possibly set her mind at rest in regard to Jalekk's demise.
Following their normal ritual, the threesome quickly ate breakfast - Taren noticed that their food supply was diminishing - and packed everything. An hour after Koja had woken the others, all of them were on their way again and in high spirits.
The trip down the tunnel to the double mouth of the fork didn't even take that long, because they seemed to have a lot to discuss. The girls told Taren about the different worlds they'd visited, and about their friends. The young Sith in turn gave them his life story from as early as he could remember, even adding the /fond/ memories of their deceased companion.
They reached the end of the tunnel and Taren offered the girls his last bit of water - they hadn't been able to fill their canteens recently. They accepted and the trio set off down the right-hand tunnel.
The ground was sloping upward, and their spirits rose the higher up they went. However, when a cluster of round pockmarks became visible in the walls, they hastened on grimly, trying to shut out any memories that their minds naturally associated with these openings.
* * *
The tunnel finally ended against what looked like a huge pile of boulders and smaller stones.
The girls stared at it hopelessly, fearing the worst.
But Taren smiled sedately at them. "Don't worry - can't you feel that the temperature's dropped slightly? I can even feel a slight breeze!"
The girls stared at him in astonishment before breaking into excited shrieks. "We're getting out of here!" Koja shouted gleefully, totally out of character. "We've made it!"
Kairal almost leapt into the air and shouted the good news to Jalekk who was no doubt still watching from Ukari.
The Sith grinned at them before gesturing to the slanted, uneven rock wall they would be climbing. "Well, we'd better get going."
The huge pile of boulders they had to climb proved easy to navigate, even if it was tiring. The different-sized rounded stones seemed almost affixed to each other, and only seldom did one shift slightly from its position when they came in contact with it.
As Koja climbed, she noticed that the inclining wall was almost ramp- like, and she wondered how exactly so many boulders had fallen to form it.
They were a good fifty meters above the tunnel floor when Taren, who was in the lead by about two meters, suddenly called down, "We're almost at the top. There's another tunnel up here!" he stepped up onto another rock and added, "We'll be out very soon. I can definitely feel a cold draft now!"
The two girls grinned at each other. They could hardly believe that they were so close to open air again - after all this time.
Koja saw the initiate's feet disappearing as he stepped onto level ground above her, but he quickly knelt down on the edge to shine their way for them. "Come on, Koja." He held out his hand to assist her. She gratefully accepted. When the Jedi was standing on level ground once more, Taren also helped Kairal.
All of them could distinctly feel a gentle breeze whispering across their exposed faces. They rested for a few moments, with Taren trying to determine how high they'd climbed. Then they happily set off down what was no doubt the last leg of their underground journey.
After a small distance, Taren's torch showed that the passage wound into a curve, and they followed it.
When they had rounded the corner, Kairal suddenly exclaimed, "Look!" and pointed ahead.
The Sith gasped and quickly flicked off his flare torch. Koja grinned at what the darkness revealed. Up ahead was a small circle of pale blue light. Unable to contain themselves anymore, the threesome hefted their packs and started running to freedom. They laughed and shouted joyfully as they stumbled over the uneven rock floor.
A few moments later they were standing outside the cave in the icy air, blinking and laughing. They fell into each others' arms and stayed like that for long moments, almost drowning in relief. Then Taren broke away and fell to his knees, digging his fingers into the thin layer of snow. The soft, squishy mass felt so good underfoot. The wind stung his face, whipping through his hair. "I never thought I'd miss this wretched ice and cold!"
Koja stared up at the pale gray-blue expanse of the sky above and wanted to cry. "The Force be blessed.' She watched a flock of dark shapes flying doggedly overhead, heading away.
"Koja, look at the sun," Kairal breathed. "I never want to leave from its sight again."
At the Hapan's words, all of them turned their faces to the flaming reddish-rose orb high above. Although it gave no warmth, everyone realized that this small star was probably what they had missed most in the days under the ground.
Taren took another deep breath of the icy air, and started pulling on his mittens, parka and scarf; seeing this, the other two did the same.
Still grinning, he announced, "I know this place. Just over that hill is where a herd of steshma antelope breeds in summer." He wound a coal- black scarf around his neck. ''Irrchanor's about three kilometers away."
Picking up their packs, the rather overwhelmed trio headed off in the direction he'd indicated. "I used to help the older boys with their hunt when I was younger. The Masters sometimes sent them kill some antelopes for food. The hunters use only the Force to run the buck down and kill it . . . "
The rest of their short journey was spent in silence, and they three drank in everything they'd never thought they'd ever miss - the stubbly gray grass; the stunted, gnarled trees; the patches of snow as white as the mist hanging on the mountains of Naboo. There was also the wonderful gravelly, scratchy feel of loose pebbles and springy plants under their soles - in stark contrast to the hard, almost smooth rock floors they had been traveling over.
* * *
The weary trio came over a rise, and the Sith academy Irrchanor Kag squatted before them. Koja had never thought she'd actually consider such a view to be so beautiful and welcoming.
"Come on," Taren urged them on, breaking into a fast jog. "We're home!"
Quickly, the tired girls forced their legs into a fast walk, and they trotted down the hill after the Sith.
"Let's go in by the back door," Taren said, "The front doors are bound to be locked." He led them to a black door set in a high, gray-white wall. He pressed a button set behind a protective covering and the door slid aside, producing a gap exactly wide enough to let one person through at a time. The young Sith ushered them in.
Inside the small courtyard the air was still but cold, the walls protected the space from the winds. Straight ahead was a greenhouse set against one wall of the academy building itself. To the right of the hothouse there was a door leading into the academy. Taren preceded them to it and opened it. The girls filed in, and the warm air that smothered their exposed skin almost made them sigh.
Taren moved on ahead of them. "I have to tell Master Kashorm I've returned." The girls followed him down a corridor and into a hall. A few knots of Sith where in here, and Taren caught one of his fellows by the arm.
The other Sith apprentice shook his hand of. "What?"
"Do you by any chance know where Kashorm is?"
"I think I saw him going to his chambers, or maybe he's in the training hall with his student." the young Twi'lek replied, oblivious to Taren's appearance. "Now, if that's all . . .?" Without waiting for an answer, he turned back to his group.
Taren motioned to the girls and they wove their way through the people to the wide, arched doorway.
"First stop: my Master's chambers." The Sith led them down a few passages lined with doors, past a hall and into another doorway with two statues lining the sides. Koja noticed that the polished black figurines showed two Sith leaders - and she recognized the one - Marka Ragnos. The other was decidedly better looking, but she hadn't seen him before.
By now Taren had reached a closed metal door. He set down his pack and turned around to face them. ''You two, stay here and be quiet." The girls nodded and the Sith activated the door chime.
His Master's deep, familiar voice answered. "Enter, my young apprentice." there was no trace of emotion in the Gornyshian's voice.
Taking a breath, the young man opened the door and stepped into his Master's room. Taren had never been in any Master's suite before and looked around curiously. A rack standing on the floor to one side showed what his Master had taken from other worlds - a glowing plant, a skull of an alien, probably a former foe, and various pieces of glittering jewelry. A curved stand proudly displaying the dozen or so lightsabers Kashorm owned stood next to a small cupboard. The Master's bed was on a raised dais in the back of the room, along with a low writing desk. The pale light shining in by the wall-obscured window had to be intensified by a few glow-panels in the ceilings.
"Taren." His name uttered by the Master brought the Sith student's focus back to the matter at hand.
"Master," he returned, raising his eyes quickly to see Kashorm's familiar bulky form standing in front of the bed.
The Gornyshian beckoned to him. "Come closer."
Taren complied, moving so that he stood about a meter away from the step. He noticed a pretty human woman peeping out from behind his Master's thigh. As he lowered his eyes again, he saw that many worn, dyed black steshma hides carpeted the floor around the bed.
Kashorm looked at the boy, and for a moment pride welled up inside. He had always known that his student would come back successfully from the Trial. "I trust your friend Jeiltar's apprentice is already counting up his side of the story . . . ?" He wanted to see how the two had treated each other on the trip.
Taren bit his lip, focusing on the Master's ankles, staring at the polished whitish barbs. "Jalekk is dead, Master. He died in the caves because of the gas."
Master Kashorm shifted and he felt his slave's deft fingers sliding up his back. This was indeed startling news. But it made him all the more satisfied - he remembered that his student had memorized the tundra- half of the route. Kashorm seated himself on the bed, deeply impressed. This boy hadn't let the fact that the person who knew the way from those caverns had died unsettle him, and had found his way out alone.
The slave's slender fingers stroked his soft back fur, moving up to his shoulders.
"Student," he said. "The boy's slave will have to go back to where he got her from."
Taren chanced a glimpse at his Master. The slave seated behind him was twining her fingers around Kashorm's deadly horns. Her upper body was bare; so much became obvious as the Gornyshian untangled her from his head. The girl shook her hair out of her face, pouted, and defiantly sidled up behind the Master, started massaging his shoulders. She gave Taren a teasing wink and he quickly stared down at the floor again.
After Kashorm had regained his regal composure, he said to the boy, "I have selected a room for you. It is in the east wing, the room next to Hitra's - the student that left for Korriban last month."
Taren nodded. "I am grateful for your wise choice, Master." /Not/ that he had ever been in any of the rooms in that section of the academy.
"I will give you two day's leave - do whatever you want with them - but on the third day your training will continue. You will meet me in the Meditation Room two hours after sunup."
The young Sith smothered the smile that threatened to break out on his face. "Thank you very much, my Master." He turned to leave -
"One more thing, Taren." - and faced his Master again. "You must tell Jeiltar what has happened. Do that now."
Sighing inwardly, he nodded. "Your will, Master." Bowing, Taren left the room, closing the door behind him.
"'I'm getting two days off." he announced, beaming. Then his face fell. "Kairal, you have to go back to that room just off the Leader's Chamber. I'm sorry."
The brown-haired girl sighed but nodded understandingly. "It's all right. I'm sure no one will select me for Initiation /again./"
Taren led the way to the Chamber. "I'll make sure that you get a good shower and a proper meal. After all, if Jalekk . . . were still with us that's what you'd be getting."
Next to Koja, Kairal nodded silently. They stopped at some vaguely familiar doors engraved with gerr.
Koja smiled when she remembered Sitah.
Taren stepped back. "Give your things back to this woman, while I speak to Master Jeiltar." He left his bag next to the door and strode off down the corridor.
The Jedi knocked gently, and, seconds later the door slid open. Sitah's face immediately brightened. "Well, well. Look what the tauntaun dragged in!" With a well-trained eye she made a quick analysis of their conditions. "You two look positively dreadful, but I've seen worse. Nothing a good cleaning-up and a decent meal can't fix!" The raven- haired woman led them into her chamber. So, tell me, did my stuff come in handy; and how did the boys treat you?"
~
In front of Master Jeiltar's suite, Taren took a deep breath. Then he pressed the button to activate the door chime.
"Yes; what?" the Master's voice sounded irritated and weary.
"Great Master, I'm Taren, apprentice to Master Kashorm. I would speak with you."
"You may enter."
Jeiltar looked up from the archaic-looking star chart he had been studying. The room was dim as the only illumination came from the small desk lamp standing on the table next to the chart.
"You may speak," the Master said, voice sounding slightly husky. If it was said that Sith aged gracefully, then Jeiltar was definitely an exception. His sallow skin was drawn tight over his cheeks, and his tall frame was bony. A shock of white hair covered the Force teacher's balding scalp. However, Taren had seen this Master in mock fights and knew that appearance was not to be trusted.
"Sir, I regret to inform you that your student Jalekk passed on to the Force during Initiation."
"How did this happen?" Jeiltar said after a small pause, voice barely audible.
"In the caves, Master. It was an accident - the gas killed him." Taren added as if to quell any thoughts his late friend's Master might have had about his role in the matter. He glanced up at Jeiltar's shadowy features.
"What a waste of potential . . . Jalekk was a good pupil." The Master gave a small, cackling laugh. "Not good enough, it seems."
Taren bowed his head. "I'm sorry for your loss, Master." And he wondered what the man was hiding behind his façade of bitterness and that fragment of smoldering anger. Quietly, he waited for the old Master to dismiss him.
"And boy," Jeiltar's dry voice cracked like a whip through the silent room. "You would do well to remember that there is no such thing as an /accident./ Everything is meant to be. Jalekk's death was meant to be - it was his destiny." The Master paused as if going over the words again. Then he nodded slowly. "Yes . . . yes. You may leave, apprentice of Kashorm."
Taren bowed a bit shakily before leaving the dark chamber.
* * *
A half an hour later found them in Taren's new room. He was very impressed with its size and the /window./
His previous room had been a dark, windowless chamber. The refresher was bigger and even had a mirror. The floor in the main bedroom was strewn with white-speckled pale brown hides - those of steshma antelopes. The wider bed also seemed to have a lot more blankets, sheets and furs.
Koja was standing by the window, gazing at the sunset. Taren moved over to join her. "It's so beautiful." she murmured quietly, staring at the flaming orange orb resting in a fiery golden-white haze on the far horizon.
"I know something even more beautiful." Taren murmured back, gaze never leaving the dying sun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The End ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~