Luke and Nara walked along the arid desert like terrain dragging
their tired bodies along the boiling red clay. It seemed like an eternity
since they had seen any city and they were both growing desperate.
"Nara are you sure that guy back there was right?" Luke questioned as he stopped to wipe the sweat off his forehead. His sandy blond bangs had stuck to his forehead and now had become thin brown strands dipped in sweat.
"I am not sure of anything Luke but I have a feeling this is right." Nara reassured as she stopped with Luke to look around the terrain around her.
"I would die for some water." Luke admitted.
"You are going to die if you don't get water so let's try to hurry up and find this place." Nara said as she trudged on.
Luke and Nara finally came to the twisted red building the man in the town before had described. It twisted up into one large cone figure but it looked like it was made out of the clay that surrounded them. The cracked steps made a weathered path to their destination.
"Finally!" Luke cried with a smile.
"It's so easy. . ." Nara commented as she stepped up on the first broken step. The step immediately turned to dust under her foot. "Yeah there is the catch."
"Bummer." Luke thought aloud just as a cloaked figured walked down the steps towards them.
The figure had a blue cloak around her broad shoulders and had a blaster at her right hip and a light saber at the other. Her black tank top and tight short pants fit well with her blond hair and blue eyes. Her eyes gleamed with evil as her presences sent chills down Luke and Nara's spines.
"I cannot allow you to go any further." She told them as she stopped three steps away from them. Strangely enough the stairs didn't turn to dust under her feet but stayed solid.
"Well we can change that." Nara reasoned.
"I doubt it, you and your little friend are only beginners and there isn't much Jedi backup for you. Sad really." The girl smirked.
"I am looking for my father! Maybe you know him." Nara asked hopefully.
"We aren't looking for a fight we just want to talk to him." Luke added.
"You have no business here, that is why you must be eliminated." The girl snapped.
"No wait you don't understand!" Nara pleaded.
"Who are you?" Luke asked.
The girl laughed and came closer to Luke and grabbed him by his collar and whispered, " I am Denora one of the best padawans around."
"Let him go!" Nara demanded as Denora dropped Luke into the clay. "Your fight is with me. If you will not allow us to pass I am going to have to kill you so I can pass."
"Nara!" Luke cried.
"Luke it's my father, stay here." Nara commanded as she stepped up on the next step of the broken stairway.
"You have three seconds on each stair! It's made to dissolve under an enemies foot." Denora warned as she drew her saber and turn it on.
"Fine it makes things interesting." Nara smiled as she drew her saber and locked sabers with Denora.
"This wasn't in training Nara! Obi-wan would have a heart attack!" Luke called as the girls began to duel.
Nara jumped up in the air just as the stair dissolved under her feet and dogged the swing Denora was admitting after her. She jumped up on the stair above the one Denora was stranding on and then tried to swing at her but Denora was fast to notice this. Denora twirled around and blocked her blow and turned her saber the opposite way to and went for the stomach. Nara sensed this and tried to get out of the way but wasn't fast enough and her clothing was ripped in a horizontal fashion and she was knocked off balanced and fell backwards.
"Damn!" Nara yelled out in pain as she hit the stairs. The stairs started to dissolve under her feet and started to leave her feet dangling in midair. Nara slipped so that her feet were on the stair that Denora stood on and her arms clutched three stairs above the one her feet were on.
"Nara!" Luke cried seeing her helpless state.
Denora stepped closer to her and kicked off one of her legs so that it hung suspended in the air.
"So what happens if I fall off this?" Nara asked.
"You go down to the dungeon where you'll be whipped and beaten to death." Denora said as she lifted her leg to kick her other leg off.
"Oh." Nara replied as she let her leg off the stairs so her hands were the only things holding her up. "You never said anything about hands!"
"Damn brat just fall, stop delaying the inevitable."
Nara helped herself up and stood and jumped the crack between the stairs to stand on the step that Denora was standing on and swung after her. Denora blocked her swings and shoved her backwards.
"Hey why didn't this dissolve?" Nara asked.
"I am on it idiot." Denora replied as she ran after Nara.
Nara tactfully moved out of the way so Denora had to catch herself before she got to the side of the step. She turned around and got Nara in the leg but Nara counter attacked with a slash her cheek as she leaned over to get her leg.
"AH! You evil little brat."
"I believe you're the evil one." Nara replied as she side kicked Denora so she leaned backwards and arched her back so she would fall off the edge. "Looks like your dead now." Nara smiled as she lifted her saber up to finish her off.
"I think not." Denora cried as she flung her arms forward shoving Nara off her feet and sliding towards the other edge.
Denora caught herself with her hands and lifted herself up and Nara slid off the edge letting go of her saber but grabbed onto the side of the step with her hand just before she fell. Denora strode over as Nara struggled to get her other hand up.
"Time to die." She smiled as she stepped on Nara's hand slowly.
"NARA!" Luke cried. "DON'T DIE!"
"I am doing the best I can Luke!" Nara screamed annoyed. She then got a brilliant idea and swung her other hand up and grabbed onto Denora's ankle. She then hung all her weight onto Denora's leg so that her whole leg lifted off the ground and she hopped forward.
Denora swung her light saber at Nara's hand but accidentally cut off her leg in the process and the pain caused her to fly forwards into the gap and disappear into the strange white light.
Nara breathed deeply and helped herself up back up on the stairs as the steps that had disappeared came back into formation. Luke smiled as he joined Nara on the stairs.
"Good work!" he congratulated.
"Yeah thanks, it wasn't easy and my leg hurts but now we can go and find my father." Nara said as she grabbed her light saber and walked up the stairs. Luek followed closely.
Luke and Nara walked into a large black room with no windows. The black floor and walls gleamed in the florescent light that hung in the rafters. What Luke and Nara didn't notice was the black-cloaked figure that stood up on a catwalk.
"What is this?" Luke asked.
"I have no idea just stay alert." Nara warned as they walked into a doorway to discover a training room.
"What shall we do Anakin?" asked one of the commanders who stood next to the black cloaked man.
"Kill them." Anakin ordered as he turned to show his now dull brown eyes. His face was now aged but still held his youthful handsomeness that he had. His hair was thining and his heart had turned cold but deep down inside he was the same Anakin he always was.
~
"Padme hang in there please!" Obi-wan coached as he held Padme's sweaty hand. Her grip was weak with sickness as her body arched in a hurt position.
"I can't hold on any longer Obi-wan, I am too weak." Padme whispered as she squinted in pain.
"No Padme think of your daughter and you husband, you have to see him once more and your daughter she loves you so much that she is risking her life. Hang in there please. . ."
Padme looked at Obi-wan with doubt in her eyes but replied, "I will try."
"No Padme, there is no try, you will hang in there. You love your daughter and husband."
Padme leaned back and answered, "She has found Anakin, I can feel them together but Anakin's heart as gone cold."
"Nara will come through, I have no doubt about that." Obi-wan reassured her.
Padme sighed and winced in pain and nodded. She then nodded off into another sleep because she has spent all her energy on trying to fight off the pain. Obi-wan let go of her sweaty palm and sighed.
"She only has one more day, Nara please hurry. . ."
"Nara are you sure that guy back there was right?" Luke questioned as he stopped to wipe the sweat off his forehead. His sandy blond bangs had stuck to his forehead and now had become thin brown strands dipped in sweat.
"I am not sure of anything Luke but I have a feeling this is right." Nara reassured as she stopped with Luke to look around the terrain around her.
"I would die for some water." Luke admitted.
"You are going to die if you don't get water so let's try to hurry up and find this place." Nara said as she trudged on.
Luke and Nara finally came to the twisted red building the man in the town before had described. It twisted up into one large cone figure but it looked like it was made out of the clay that surrounded them. The cracked steps made a weathered path to their destination.
"Finally!" Luke cried with a smile.
"It's so easy. . ." Nara commented as she stepped up on the first broken step. The step immediately turned to dust under her foot. "Yeah there is the catch."
"Bummer." Luke thought aloud just as a cloaked figured walked down the steps towards them.
The figure had a blue cloak around her broad shoulders and had a blaster at her right hip and a light saber at the other. Her black tank top and tight short pants fit well with her blond hair and blue eyes. Her eyes gleamed with evil as her presences sent chills down Luke and Nara's spines.
"I cannot allow you to go any further." She told them as she stopped three steps away from them. Strangely enough the stairs didn't turn to dust under her feet but stayed solid.
"Well we can change that." Nara reasoned.
"I doubt it, you and your little friend are only beginners and there isn't much Jedi backup for you. Sad really." The girl smirked.
"I am looking for my father! Maybe you know him." Nara asked hopefully.
"We aren't looking for a fight we just want to talk to him." Luke added.
"You have no business here, that is why you must be eliminated." The girl snapped.
"No wait you don't understand!" Nara pleaded.
"Who are you?" Luke asked.
The girl laughed and came closer to Luke and grabbed him by his collar and whispered, " I am Denora one of the best padawans around."
"Let him go!" Nara demanded as Denora dropped Luke into the clay. "Your fight is with me. If you will not allow us to pass I am going to have to kill you so I can pass."
"Nara!" Luke cried.
"Luke it's my father, stay here." Nara commanded as she stepped up on the next step of the broken stairway.
"You have three seconds on each stair! It's made to dissolve under an enemies foot." Denora warned as she drew her saber and turn it on.
"Fine it makes things interesting." Nara smiled as she drew her saber and locked sabers with Denora.
"This wasn't in training Nara! Obi-wan would have a heart attack!" Luke called as the girls began to duel.
Nara jumped up in the air just as the stair dissolved under her feet and dogged the swing Denora was admitting after her. She jumped up on the stair above the one Denora was stranding on and then tried to swing at her but Denora was fast to notice this. Denora twirled around and blocked her blow and turned her saber the opposite way to and went for the stomach. Nara sensed this and tried to get out of the way but wasn't fast enough and her clothing was ripped in a horizontal fashion and she was knocked off balanced and fell backwards.
"Damn!" Nara yelled out in pain as she hit the stairs. The stairs started to dissolve under her feet and started to leave her feet dangling in midair. Nara slipped so that her feet were on the stair that Denora stood on and her arms clutched three stairs above the one her feet were on.
"Nara!" Luke cried seeing her helpless state.
Denora stepped closer to her and kicked off one of her legs so that it hung suspended in the air.
"So what happens if I fall off this?" Nara asked.
"You go down to the dungeon where you'll be whipped and beaten to death." Denora said as she lifted her leg to kick her other leg off.
"Oh." Nara replied as she let her leg off the stairs so her hands were the only things holding her up. "You never said anything about hands!"
"Damn brat just fall, stop delaying the inevitable."
Nara helped herself up and stood and jumped the crack between the stairs to stand on the step that Denora was standing on and swung after her. Denora blocked her swings and shoved her backwards.
"Hey why didn't this dissolve?" Nara asked.
"I am on it idiot." Denora replied as she ran after Nara.
Nara tactfully moved out of the way so Denora had to catch herself before she got to the side of the step. She turned around and got Nara in the leg but Nara counter attacked with a slash her cheek as she leaned over to get her leg.
"AH! You evil little brat."
"I believe you're the evil one." Nara replied as she side kicked Denora so she leaned backwards and arched her back so she would fall off the edge. "Looks like your dead now." Nara smiled as she lifted her saber up to finish her off.
"I think not." Denora cried as she flung her arms forward shoving Nara off her feet and sliding towards the other edge.
Denora caught herself with her hands and lifted herself up and Nara slid off the edge letting go of her saber but grabbed onto the side of the step with her hand just before she fell. Denora strode over as Nara struggled to get her other hand up.
"Time to die." She smiled as she stepped on Nara's hand slowly.
"NARA!" Luke cried. "DON'T DIE!"
"I am doing the best I can Luke!" Nara screamed annoyed. She then got a brilliant idea and swung her other hand up and grabbed onto Denora's ankle. She then hung all her weight onto Denora's leg so that her whole leg lifted off the ground and she hopped forward.
Denora swung her light saber at Nara's hand but accidentally cut off her leg in the process and the pain caused her to fly forwards into the gap and disappear into the strange white light.
Nara breathed deeply and helped herself up back up on the stairs as the steps that had disappeared came back into formation. Luke smiled as he joined Nara on the stairs.
"Good work!" he congratulated.
"Yeah thanks, it wasn't easy and my leg hurts but now we can go and find my father." Nara said as she grabbed her light saber and walked up the stairs. Luek followed closely.
Luke and Nara walked into a large black room with no windows. The black floor and walls gleamed in the florescent light that hung in the rafters. What Luke and Nara didn't notice was the black-cloaked figure that stood up on a catwalk.
"What is this?" Luke asked.
"I have no idea just stay alert." Nara warned as they walked into a doorway to discover a training room.
"What shall we do Anakin?" asked one of the commanders who stood next to the black cloaked man.
"Kill them." Anakin ordered as he turned to show his now dull brown eyes. His face was now aged but still held his youthful handsomeness that he had. His hair was thining and his heart had turned cold but deep down inside he was the same Anakin he always was.
~
"Padme hang in there please!" Obi-wan coached as he held Padme's sweaty hand. Her grip was weak with sickness as her body arched in a hurt position.
"I can't hold on any longer Obi-wan, I am too weak." Padme whispered as she squinted in pain.
"No Padme think of your daughter and you husband, you have to see him once more and your daughter she loves you so much that she is risking her life. Hang in there please. . ."
Padme looked at Obi-wan with doubt in her eyes but replied, "I will try."
"No Padme, there is no try, you will hang in there. You love your daughter and husband."
Padme leaned back and answered, "She has found Anakin, I can feel them together but Anakin's heart as gone cold."
"Nara will come through, I have no doubt about that." Obi-wan reassured her.
Padme sighed and winced in pain and nodded. She then nodded off into another sleep because she has spent all her energy on trying to fight off the pain. Obi-wan let go of her sweaty palm and sighed.
"She only has one more day, Nara please hurry. . ."