The future, Roj Kell had always found, was interesting in being unknown and boring in being a repetition of the past in almost all cases. He knew, of course, that his unique perspective allowed him to spot the similarities much more easily, yet he always felt slightly disappointed when he found himself standing at the same crossroads he had mastered decades or even centuries ago. Take thise one: Like any of his students, Darth Sidious would not survive him. That he knew with certainty, if only because he was totally confident in that he would persevere, as he always did. His journey, he felt, was not over by a long shot, and he had not yet reached that oneness he strived for, to become one with what he had been named for.
Over time, and a long time it was, the ancient Sith had had many obsessions, but his most lasting and most passionate one was acquiring knowledge, and accumulating wisdom from that knowledge. In that he was a restless wanderer, open to everything new, and that was the cause for his being constantly disappointed. So far, he had to admit, Sidious had not been a disappointment. His resentment and hatred were refreshing, considering that Kell's past students had been much more determined to learn, had been much more subservient, up until the point where their apprenticeship ended. If it ended at all. His first apprentice had not survived even one month, because Kell had been fed up quickly with the boy's stupidity. It had taken him a long time to realize that he was expecting his students to meet his own level from the very beginning. Which was impossible, of course, and ridiculous an assumption.
But Sidious ... Sidious had come to him with a purpose, and that alone had proven that the younger Sith had already reached a level of shrewdness that came close to Kell's own. Close, but at a certain point it veered off in a totally different direction. It could be the fact that Roj Kell had had millennia to cultivate perfection, and Sidious was trying to achieve that in much less time. And succeeding. Which was the remarkable part of this observation. The less pleasant one was that Darth Sidious had an impatience concelaed within a seemingly endless supply of longanimity that was driving his mind into disturbing fantasies of glory. His thoughts were never focused on the here and now, always in the future, always craving more. Not craving knowledge, though, but craving power. The problem was, that there was only so much power one could handle.
"Blithe Arkad!"
Roj Kell's head snapped around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice calling out a familiar name. His eyes narrowed slightly as he spotted the newcomer who drew closer, waving foolishly. He had been slightly surprised to have his contact here on Obroa-skai insist on a meeting, because the man was too unimportant to care for that, but something had told him that he should agree anyway. Now, though, seeing who was following the squat figure of Do Rahma, the ancient Sith Lord almost bit his tongue in frustration. Qui-Gon Jinn. What was he doing here?
"An honor to meet you at last!" Do Rahma exclaimed once he had reached the library booth where Kell had been waiting. Rahma turned back to his companion, beaming. "Master Arkad is an expert on historical documents and history in general."
"Is he?" Qui-Gon Jinn asked, brow arched in distant surprise.
"Indeed." Rising from his seat, Kell shrugged off his anger and smiled. "And what brings you here?"
"A quest for knowledge, of course. Do Rahma was so good as to arrange this meeting for me. I did not know I would be meeting you, though."
"A sentiment we share, then." The ancient Sith shot his informant a cold glare, then nodded at Qui-Gon to follow. The two of them started walking down the aisle and toward the garden outside. "I heard of Crion's death. A nasty business."
The flash of grief that crossed the Jedi's blue eyes was unmistakable. "I had no choice," he said, but his tone was very quiet. Then, shaking his head curtly to get rid of the memories, he looked straight at the older man. "Of course, sometimes choices are not our own." A cold smile curled up the corners of Kell's lips and he opened his mouth slightly as if to answer, but he turned away again, seemingly deciding to keep quiet after all. But Qui-Gon would not leave him be. "What?" he demanded? "What is wrong with that?"
"Nothing, I suppose. For some it might be enough." But not for the likes of Qui-Gon Jinn. Rounding on the Jedi again he added. "Had you taken the initiative back on Telos you might have been able to convince Xanatos of the validity of your principles. Perhaps you gave up too easily."
"I don't think so," the Jedi countered miserably.
"Then you do not understand anything about choices. You make your choices, no one else. When you came to Telos for the very first time you did not press Crion to send his boy to the Jedi for training. You were more insightful then. He was never meant for you to train."
Qui-Gon seemed non-plussed. "Why?"
"You say you came here to seek knowledge," Roj Kell answered quietly. "Perhaps you should learn to follow your instincts first."
The Jedi looked doubtful. "And what should that have to do with my quest?"
"Everything, I believe. Some of us follow reason and are meant to follow reason. Others, though, should follow their heart and convictions." He gave the younger man a meaningful glance and watched realization dawn on Qui-Gon's face. He had hit right on target here, Kell found, and thought it with satisfaction.
"What path do you follow, Blithe Arkad?" the Jedi asked at last.
"Neither," came the enigmatic answer. "Now, what was it again that you needed information on?"
Four months passed, and with it Sidious' resentment. Instead of delving on self-pity and mind-numbing fantasies of revenge, he had resolved to prove to his master that he was more mature than that. Keeping very cool, he let not let his true feelings show. For there still was that desire to prove his mastery in blood, but it was muted, like a faint echo. And Roj Kell certainly did his best to provoke him constantly. Perhaps it therefore was no coincidence that during those four months Sidious only found the time for two more visits to Sullust. Out of career reasons, of course. But his master had made it clear that he would tolerate no more excuses. He had brought him here, to some world Sidious had never been before.
The two Sith, with the older man dressed in his usual plain clothes and Sidious still wearing a more formal attire of Nubian style, stepped onto the virgin dew-covered clearing from their ship's landing ramp, both keeping silent for a while. Sidious, in remembrance of their trip to Railltir, immediately suspected an attack, but the cool, fresh air brought only peaceful sounds to them. Birds were chatting among the trees and the undergrowth rustled now and then, but there was nothing alarming about this setting. Curious, Sidious stole a glance at his mentor, only to find a hard grin on the older man's face, a grin that was savage, to say the least.
When he noticed the younger Sith Lord's eyes on him, Kell detached his lightsaber handle deliberately slowly from his belt.
"We won't need our weapons," he told Sidious calmly, but the Nubian noticed that the man did not, in fact, put his weapon aside, but was waiting for him to rid himself of his own first.
Defering to age, Sidious made a show of retrieving his own lightsaber handle from his robes. It was torn from his grasp without warning and flung carelessly into the interior of the ship, where he heard the metal handle clatter into some corner. Roj Kell, whose right hand still was outstretched toward the ship, was smiling.
"Don't fret, Sidious. That time will come soon enough."
The younger man blushed furiously, but did not reply. It seemed that his master would not cease his provoking him anytime soon. But then, to his mild surprise, Kell's own lightsaber followed his own and landed just as carelessly on the deck. Then the landing ramp retreated and the ship closed itself off from the atmosphere, awaiting the two Sith Lords' return.
"No provisions?" Sidious found himself asking suddenly.
Roj Kell shook his head. "We won't be needing them. There are people living not far away. We will pay them a visit."
"Just that?" Sidious shot back, unimpressed by his master's secrecy.
"A lesson on belief," the older man explained. "They believe in a terrible goddess that protects them against their enemies, and they have fierce enemies. These people fear nothing and no one and that lack of fear makes them formidable foes. Should you try one of your tricks with them they will not relent until they have overwhelmed you, no matter how many of them die."
"Then we shall shake their belief a bit," Sidious promised in a delighted purr.
"Someone's belief, anyway," Roj Kell added quietly, then strode off toward the forest.
For a moment Sidious remained rooted in place, but then he started after his master somewhat grudgingly. Catching up to Kell, Sidious stepped into the woods. The trees, rising into the sky like giant pillars, were bare bark except for the crown, and the undergrowth was low and thick, so the two men could walk over the elastic creepers like over a soft carpet. The advantage was that this allowed them to move almost without making any sound. The disadvantage, of course, was that they were not concealed from prying eyes. Well, Sidious mused, in that case whoever those eyes belonged to would stand exposed too. Only belatedly did he realize that the fact that the undergrowth was too low to conceal the two Sith Lords did not mean that it was not perfect to hide something else. Crevices, for example.
With an audible crack, Sidious' left boot broke through the shrub and his leg was swallowed up to his knee. He could sense the hole underneath, and reasoned that it might be wiser to test the rest of the undergrowth before he managed to plunge into some unknown depth by accident. Somewhat indignant, he glared at Roj Kell, who studied him in silence, his pale eyes strangely curious, as if watching some speciman in an experiment. With sweat accumulating on his brow, the younger Sith Lord tried to heave himself out of the trap again, careful to lean only part of his weight on the shrubs surrounding him. All the while his master stood on the swaying, treacherous forest floor, not inclined to lift a finger to help him. Then something else caught Sidious' attention. He could sense movement underneath, and fancied hearing muffled voices. Extending his senses, he could pick up about five presences. Primitive minds, but single-minded too. Something tugged on his boot, and he gave a slightly desperate grunt.
"Oh my. I think -," he breathed, preparing to unleash his power on the unsuspecting hunters who seemed deliriously joyous over having caught some prey, but at the same instant the weight on his leg increased, and he was unceremoniously dragged underneath the shrub. After long moments of sharp, gnarled twigs tearing at his clothes, face and hands, he dropped heavily onto rock. A hard blow to his head knocked him out, and he gratefully sank into dark oblivion.
Roj Kell took his time following the invisible maze of ravines and crevices that permeated the forest. Without thinking, he wandered the safe passages overhead, where the shrub grew over hard ground, like he had many times before. He liked this world, especially because here the game of life had not been refined by civilization. Here it was pure, honest survival. For Sidious, who was more used to political back-stabbing and behind-the-doors scheming, this was new territory. Being honest with himself, Kell had to admit that he could not teach Sidious anything else about politics, not only because he himself did not have the detailed grasp on everyday proceedings that Sidious himself had, but also because it did not interest him. What he could teach him, and what he had taught him, were stealth and deception, as well as control over oneself and others using already existing emotions. Now though, this last test would determine whether Sidious would need some more lessons before he could be released from his bonds to his master.
As he walked down a slope into a small valley, he could sense the hunters gathering all around him, undecided about his appearance. They saw him as enemy and intruder, of course, but so far they were not certain whether he was worth killing. Sidious, the ancient Sith could sense, was not with this band. They had separated, obviously, and the others would be carrying their prey into their village. Suddenly the roar of a giant Neiwar reverbrated throughout the forest and the hunters broke into skittish activity. Scouts were being sent out to determine the whereabouts of the great predator and whether it was endangering the village. Oh well. He had spent enough time being civilized. This would be fun.
Once he had reached the valley floor a number of the hunters appeared from the shrubs, their squat bodies clad in leather loin-cloths and a few decorative leather strips around arms and ankles. The were barely tall enough to reach Kell's navel. But he knew that they were not to be underestimated. Their tiny yellow-black eyes were watching him keenly. The hunters' over-sized heads rested on stick-thin necks and small shoulders, and their rounded bodies were propelled by slightly bent, muscular legs. They walked on tip-toe, and had developed an unwavering sense for balance, which they needed if they were to navigate the rocky mazes underneath the shrubs successfully and with speed. After the staring match had lasted a few minutes, one of the hunters, this one wearing a red stripe around his forehead, stepped forward and garbled at the Sith Lord.
He gave the speaker a thin smile, that widened into an unfriendly grin, exposing almost all of his teeth. The lead hunter's head jerked back cautiously, then he hefted a short spear and brought it up to his shoulder, the sharp wooden point aimed at the tall human. He snarled an interrogative at the Sith, who promptly snarled back. In a chorus of fast excited gibberish, the assembled hunters darted back into the safety of the underbrush. Shrugging, Kell followed. The crevices were too low for him to walk upright, but he did not mind. Sandstone made up the walls, and the shrubs overhead gave off a faint, sweet scent. He smiled. No doubt they would try to divert his attention from the village, but they would have other problems to deal with. That was – Above his head small pebbles came loose and slid down to the bottom of the crevice. He stared at them. Perhaps he should not have left his lightsaber on the ship after all.
The setback of his falling into his hunter mode was that he truly did think like a hunter, and that led to his focusing too much on his prey. That way he had totally missed the fact that the Neiwar was now stalking him, instead of the small forest dwellers. The giant predator was a reptile sporting huge pranks with three toes set wide apart so it would not accidentially get stuck in the treacherous ravines underneath the forest floow. Of course, those clawed toes were also perfect for ripping apart the shrub and angling for the smaller prey that hid from sight underneath. The Neiwar had a sleek built, otherwise, and its elongated snout served also as a shovel, if it needed to dig into underground caves to get at its food. Right now that snout was sniffing inquisitively at the unfamiliar scent coming from the human Sith.
Closing his eyes, Roj Kell concentrated on the Neiwar's mind. That's right. There is nothing here for you. A shout interrupted his thoughts and he grimaced in disdain. The Neiwar gave a grunt and seemingly turned away from the crevice to confront this new challenge. He leapt away and landed heavily not far away, making the ground shake all around the ancient Sith. Fed up, Kell made his way back out into the small valley to see what was going on. The hunters, it seemed, had surrounded the Neiwar and were now trying to bring him down. It was a young male, not fully grown, which was a blessing. He was twice as tall as Kell, with four meters in length, that was mostly taken up by his long, lashing tail. The beast roared at the hunters, who circled it in a complicated dance, singing softly under their breath. At seemingly random intervalls one or two of the hunters would leave the circle to stab at the Neiwar, and they were careful to arrange those stabs so that there was always at least one wound inflicted on the reptilian predator, and it had no chance to concentrate on one particular target.
All right. Perhaps now was the time to interfere.
When Sidious woke again he found himself bound wrists and ankles and hanging upside down on some sort of pole, which was carried on the shoulders of four of the small alien hunters. Considering their small height, that left the Sith Lord's back and head brushing the ground most of the time. He certainly was in no good mood anyway, and this treatment only fueled his anger more. Trying to twist upright he glanced around to see where they were headed. A village, if he was not mistaken, squatting in a small clearing, almost filling it from edge to edge. A palisade had been erected around the dwellings and a single opening served as gate. Sentinels gave warning as they spotted the approaching hunting party and soon the muddy path leading into the village was filled with a cheering crowd. Young or old, male or female, the looks directed at the Sith Lord all conveyed the same proud joy over a good catch.
The hunters dropped their burden in the small square situated in the midst of the village, right at the foot of a tall pole that overlooked the rows of rounded huts. Looking up, Sidious found himself glaring at some sort of relic, the mummified body of one of the alien tribes' females, by the look of it. He remembered Kell telling him about their worshipping some goddess, and now he understood why his master had called this a lesson on belief. Obviously the old crone had been alive once, a fearsome ruler, probably, who, in the minds of her people, had become a goddess over time. It was a primitive belief if ever he had seen one. A grin spread on his features. It was amazing what people would come up with in the dark hours of their lives, what they set their faith in. A mummy? Ridiculous.
There was only one thing to believe in: power.
Eyes narrowing, Sidious moved to free himself, but suddenly the hard wodden point of a spear dug into his neck, threatening to break through skin and flesh if he continued. Enraged already, the Sith Lord used his anger to fling the spear and its bearer away. A cry went up from the crowd, and a wave of surprise swept all over the square. Sidious ignored it and proceeded to free himself of the leather straps used to bind him. But they held fast, and without a knife even he would be hard-pressed to break them. Surprise turned into curiosity, and the crowd drew nearer again. A voice began talking, sounding amused, and there was only a tiny flash of warning before the Nubian found his back punctured by another spear. The pain was most acute and drove a spike of outrage right into his brain. He was about ready to slaughter the entire assembly, but in the last moment he held back, realizing that that would still leave him bound and helpless.
Snarling like a wild beast, Sidious twisted his body around and managed to sit up somewhat awkwardly, facing his captors. And Roj Kell. The ancient Sith Lord stood tall among another band of hunters, these laden with raw, dripping meat. "What - is - going - on," Sidious demanded, his voice an aggressive hiss. Was Kell a prisoner too? It did not look like he was, considering that these aliens seemed to treat their captives not all that friendly. His master did not answer, but for a moment his cool, pale green eyes held a look of such contempt, that Sidious felt shame flood his mind instantly. This was a lesson, not a battle. A lesson on belief, Kell had called it, anmd Sidious thought he understood now what was required of him. These people believed very firmly in their goddess, whatever her origins, and it was that belief he needed to shatter. But neither coercion nor brute force would get him very far here.
Then how was he going to accomplish his mission?
Suspicion flashed through his mind as he remembered a previous lesson, one on deception and the power of words. All information he had was due to his master, and he had learned the hard way that trusting Roj Kell was always the worst choice. Except when it was the only one. Closing his eyes in concentration, Sidious tried to garner a feel for his captors, to determine their weak points, if they had any. And then, with concentration came calm, and with calm his confidence returned. This was not an unsolvable problem, not at all. A smile began forming on his lips, but he was startled back into reality when a cloth of some sort was gently pressed against the wound in his back.
"Hold still," Roj Kell murmured softly in his ear. "We don't want you to bleed to death just now, do we?"
"No?"
The answer was firm. "No. You're on the right track. Now let's see you play this to the end."
Standing back, the ancient Sith Lord left the circle of hunters that began to form around the pole and the captured Nubian. Sidious was not hurt bad, and that would prevent him from realising what his mentor was accomplishing by using this particular training method. Never before had Kell been so cruel in tutoring a fledgling student, but then, Sidious was anything but ignorant. On the contrary. But the younger man also was full of resentment, an inheritence of his apprenticeship to this Darth Nexus. The more Sidious got kicked, the more he drew in on himself, nurturing his hatred and always avoiding an open confrontation. The main source of this behaviour though was, as Kell believed, the Nubian heritage that still held the man in its grip. Nexus had only intensified it, and probably had done so deliberately, to keep his student under control.
Back on Railltir Kell had managed to bring Sidious out of his reserve, and the younger Sith Lord had struck at him, trying to vent his frustration and anger at last. As reward he had spared his life, which had been a great reward indeed, for the ancient Sith did not take a death threat lightly. Sidious probably interpreted clemency as weakness, but in truth it was a different sort of power, one Sidious would learn to use too, over time, and especially once he had accomplished this test. These people only believed in one power, that of their goddess. Their belief was so strong, that they feared nothing, and would not fear Sidious either. That his apprentice had understood, and he was now pondering a plan of action that would gain him his freedom and ultimately the subservience of these people.
It was a test for Roj Kell too, for his convictions and his ideals. Even though he did manipulate and goad people into changing their set of beliefs he prided himself in using what was already there, in showing them their true self, their true destiny. What Sidious was going to do, if he suceeded, was a total conversion of faith, something the ancient Sith loathed. What faith Sidious would create in place of the old would be based on nothing but lies, and those would not be these people's lies, but the Sith Lord's. Still, the battle had not even started. Looking up, he regarded the body propped up on the pole, studying it closely. A goddess of mortal origins. Was there any other way that gods came to be? They were all born out of the desires of mortals, even if they had no real form. But what was real? The ancient Sith Lord smiled. It was one thing to be able to see, and quite another to understand. For now Darth Sidious had seen, and believed to have understood. That would soon change. Very soon.
TBC