Emotions
Chapter 12: Thought
Disclaimer: For the sake of not getting sued :grumbles: I don't own anything that is related to Star Wars: Knights of the old Republic II. The guys your looking for are Lucas Arts, Bio-ware, and Obsidian. Hah, can't sue me now:dances:
Atton's POV
"You're too late." The Sith Master sneered triumphantly, "We have done what was needed to be done. Soon, Onderon shall fall, and with it, the Republic shall die."
"Yeah-yeah... just more of your Sith talk. Don't get too overconfident just yet." I glared at the Sith Master as my grip on my light saber tightened. Mira, Mical, and I fell into a defensive stance. Our light sabers humming and glowing brightly in a mixture of orange(Mira), yellow(Atton), and green(Mical).
The three Sith Masters didn't appear threatened. Instead, the middle- who I assumed was the leader- stepped forward, "But what is this?" he looked at all three of us, but his gaze rested on me, "Of course, the Force had guided you here. It echoes within you, yet, I sense it is... untrained."
"Untrained? What do you mean?" Mical asked, glancing between me and the Sith Master.
"Force adepts have managed to get this far? Incredible." the Sith Master chuckled lightly.
I heard Mira growl in annoyance, but I smirked at the Sith, "Yeah, who would have guessed that a bunch of 'adepts', who haven't gotten even got a single year worth of training, managed to infiltrate a Sith Base- filled with highly experienced Sith 'elites'- and get far enough to kick more Sith ass."
The other two Sith Masters ignited their light sabers and stepped forward, but the leader raised his arms to stop them. "Do not provoke them, Atton." Mical warned.
I rolled my eyes and ignored him, 'Someone tell this kid to lighten up once in a while.'
The leader kept this gaze on me, "I see..." he pointed straight at me, "You... yes, I can sense it. You have the potential to wield the Force. And not in the ways of the Jedi or their flawed teachings. No, their order is rooted in weakness."
"You are wrong!" Mical exclaimed and stepped forward. "You know nothing of their teachings- all you know is the immoral teachings of the darkside."
"So says one of their puppets." One of the Sith behind the leader sneered.
"The Jedi and their flawed teachings." The leader spat, as if saying those word left a bad taste in his mouth. "Will you let yourself become a puppet of the Force?" he asked, addressing the question directly at me. I frowned and didn't answer. "The Jedi would have you deny the strength of your emotions- the strength of you own will. Can't you feel the power of this place? It echoes through you like a second voice. Accept it... embrace it."
"We stand by the Jedi and that will never change." Mical argued back, thinking this was directed at all of us.
"I'm sick of hearing you talk!" Mira remarked, "I say cut the chit chat and let's end this."
I remained silent as I switched off my lightsaber. Both Mira and Mical looked over a me, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Mira asked, looking at my like I just lost my mind.
"Atton?" Mical questioned warily.
I ignored both of them and continued to glare at the Sith Master in front of me. He took it as a sign to continue, "Jedi... A Jedi has no family, no childhood, no emotion. They are dead to the Force- and to themselves."
"You're wrong." I hissed. 'Alanah... she is not dead to the universe around her. She sees and feels things... no other can.' I thought to myself. 'I was dead to all that was around me... until... until Alanah showed me the Force again and made me really see the universe.'
"They want drones," he continued, "slaves to the Jedi Council. At least we live, we feel the universe around us. We are the masters; not mere tools of the Force."
"It is you who want the slaves- not the Jedi. It is you who live, only to seek death to the weak and power to control others. What you feel isn't the universe... it's the death you've caused in that universe." I said calmly, "You are the tools; maybe not to the Force, but to yourselves and your lust for power."
He growled angrily, "Can't you feel the power of this place, within the walls of this tomb? Just embrace it. Don't limit your potential."
I ignited my double bladed yellow lightsaber and stood in a defensive stance along with Mira and Mical, "Nah," I smirked, "I think I'll pass."
Alanah's POV
"Alanah?" I looked at Master Kavar and noticed the slight worry in his eyes, "Is something wrong?"
"I'm sorry, Master Kavar." I blushed, slightly embarrassed. "I just thought I felt something." I thought out loud. 'Something happened...' I turned my attention back on my old mentor, "Please continue what you were saying."
"I always sensed that you were special, Alanah. Even as I helped you train as a padawan." Master Kavar smiled warmly at me as he placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.
I smiled in return, gracious to hear such kind words. Gracious to hear these kind words from an old trusted mentor, "Thank you, Master Kavar." But, as much as I enjoyed this one moment of peace, there were important issues to deal with. I looked up at Master Kavar- my demeanor changing to seriousness.
He nodded silently- knowing what my expression meant, "I will meet with the remaining Masters in Dantooine. And everything-"
"Everything will be decided there." I finished.
He nodded, "I will meet you back on Dantooine, Alanah. Now, if you will excuse me." He turned to leave, but paused and turned back, "May the Force be with you." And with that, he left the grand halls of the throne room.
"May the Force be with you as well..." I turned my attention back to my two companions- Kreia and Bao-Dur.
The shuttle ride back to Dxun was silent- Kreia was especially silent. I had thought that after my meeting with Kavar, she would want to discuss something- she always did after my meetings with each Master. Instead, she chose to sit in the back of the shuttle where she could meditate in peace. I had made small chit chat Bao-Dur about the recent events taking place, but after a few minutes- the shuttle was dead silent with only the beeping of the controls and the roar of the engines. I stared out the windows at the Dxun moon coming into view.
My thoughts found themselves thinking of the small group of my crew that dealt with Sith in the hidden Sith Temple on the moon's jungle surface- Mira, Mical, and Atton. I had felt a small disturbance during my altercations on Iziz. Small as it was, I couldn't help but feel worried about it. The disturbance faded quickly as it appeared, but it still lingered in my thoughts.
"Hey, the gang's all back together!" Atton grinned as we approached him, "You must tell me all about your vacation on Onderon." Bao-Dur had already headed inside, along with his remote. He grinned crookedly at me, "So how was the situation on Iziz"
"The political issues on Iziz have been resolved- for now at least. Iziz has only one leader now." Kreia informed briefly. Kreia turned to me, "I suggest we make haste to Dantooine. Staying here any longer should prove to be at our disadvantage."
"Aw... and I was just getting used to the humid jungle air." Atton remarked sarcastically as he feigned disappointment. Kreia frowned at him and headed for the Ebon Hawk. Atton rolled his eyes and turned his attention back at me, "Are you ok?" he asked, finally noticing my silence.
"I'm fine," I lied, "I'm just a little tired from today." In truth, I wasn't tired at all- not physically at least. I was mentally tired.
"I'm not surprised." He replied as we walked slowly towards the Ebon Hawk.
"So how did everything go in that Sith Temple?" I asked.
"Well..." he began as he ran his gloved hand through the wet tresses of his shaggy wet hair, "You know... there were bunch of sith and..."
He began telling me of his little adventure, but I wasn't really listening. I just stared at him from the corner of my eye. 'He seems so relaxed? Almost serene... and Atton and the word 'serene' don't usually mix.' We finally reached the main hold of the ship and were greeted with...
"FINALLY!" yelled an impatient Mira, who looked quite amusing with her hair wrapped in a towel. "Jeeze, could you two take any longer getting here." she complained. She pointed directly at Atton, "You, lover boy, I want to get off this fracking moon. NOW."
Atton's POV
I yawned tiredly as I twirled a pazaak card in my hand out of boredom. I glanced over at controls, which were switched to auto-pilot- saving me from having to actually pilot this rust bucket.
"Hey, Pazaak Head." the voice of Alanah greeted from behind me.
I jumped slightly and spun around. "Force! How in the hell are you able to sneak up on me so easily?" I mentioned out loud. I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly and cleared my throat, "I mean, uh, hey..." Smooth, Rand... real smooth...
She smiled softly, "Thought you could use a small break." she said while offered me a cup of caffa.
I looked at the cup and glanced back up at her, "Uh... thanks." I took the cup from her took a small sip.
My eyes followed Alanah as she took a seat in the co-pilot's seat. "So, how long until we reach Dantooine?" she asked, stirring the caffa with a straw absentmindedly.
I took another small sip of the caffa and placed the cup on the floor, "Shouldn't be too long with the speed we're going. Three days at the most." I guessed. I looked over at her a noticed she was looking at me weirdly, "What?"
She was resting her head on the palms of her hands, while her elbows rested the armrest of the seat. She kept looking at me with her right eyebrow raised slightly, "Remember that day we crashed on the surface of Telos?"
"What?" I asked, confused. Where is she going with this?
"It was after we met Bao-Dur. We were waiting while he was disarming the mines around a hidden cache and you kept glancing at me from the corner of your eyes. It was really annoying." she chuckled lightly.
'Well, I wouldn't be looking at you in the corner of my eyes every time, if you weren't so damn hot... not that I'm complaining.' I thought to myself mentally, my face growing a little warm. I shifted in my seat uncomfortably.
"Well, I caught you glancing at me, so I turned to you and asked you why you kept looking at me all the time." she paused for a second, lowered her head down, closed her eyes, placed her right hand almost over her mouth, and starting laughing. It was the same damn laugh I loved hearing so much. (Chapter two people! Remember?) "You looked so flustered- like a kid getting caught stealing from the cookie jar. And you tried to play if off smoothly." she continued to laugh.
I shifted in my seat again, "I'm glad you find me so amusing." I remarked sarcastically, trying really hard to control my embarrassment. "I didn't realize I was so corny."
Her laughs decreased to light giggles and she stared over to me with a slight sparkle in her eye, "Then, you commented on my aura- or something like that. You said you could see a 'glow' radiating from me and it was calming or inspiring."
I pulled at the collar of my inner robes. Was it getting hot in here or was it just me? I looked over at her, unamused, "Is there a point to this? Or is this journey down memory lane some twisted plot to tease me?"
She pouted, "You're no fun. Fine, I'll get to the point." She smiled sweetly at me, "You have this calmness around you- almost like a glow. It's weird. Did something happen to you on Dxun?" she asked curiously.
"A glow, eh?" I leaned back into my seat and looked over at her. She was resting her head on the palms of her hands, while her elbows rested the armrest of the seat again as she waited patiently for my answer. "I guess, I just had to prove something to myself. And, I never had the chance to put it to the test until then."
She continued to stare at me, "Well? What did you learn?"
I winked playfully at her, "Nothing I didn't already know."
She blinked and opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her off.
"Oh, I almost forgot." I stood up from my seat and took out a short single bladed light saber. "I found it at that Sith Temple. Thought I'd give it to you." I tossed her the light saber and she caught it with ease.
She looked at the short light saber, examining it. "And how exactly did you claim such a prize?" she asked curiously as she ignited the light saber.
I watched her as she admired the amber like glow radiating from it, "Well... I kinda found it in a... a tomb." I answered sheepishly.
She switch off the light saber and raised an eyebrow at me, "A tomb? Whose tomb was it, Atton?" I laughed nervously at her, "Answer me, Pazaak Head."
"Some old, dead, dark Jedi... Freedon Nadd- I think."
She glanced over at the weapon in her hands and back up at me, "You actually looted Freedon Nadd's tomb?" she looked back down at the light saber and smirked, "No tomb will be spared from Atton Rand, the grave robber." she joked as she attached the light saber to her belt, along side her silver single bladed light saber.
"Hey! See, now, I'm not gonna show you the other stuff I 'looted'." I teased as I started rummaging through the pockets of my robes.
She stood up from her seat, abandoning her caffa, and walked over to me, "What other stuff?"
I hid the objects in my hands and raised them over my head, knowing very well she was too short to reach them, "I was gonna give them to you, but you started teasing me, so... you lost you chance, Babe." She pouted up at me in response. Force! She's so damn cute! I sighed, defeated, "Like I can say no to a pretty face." I brung my hands down and showed her two light saber crystals.
Her eyes widened in shock, "Atton! Do you have any idea how rare these crystals are!"
"Huh?"
Alanah pointed at the small blue sapphire, "This is the Ankarres Sapphire! And this," she pointed at the ruby like crystal, "This is the Kaiburr Crystal!" She looked up at with wide eyes, "How in the Force were you able to obtain such rare crystals!"
I smirked down at her, "Scoundrel's luck."
She grabbed my wrist and started pulling me out of the cockpit, "Come with me!"
Like I was gonna deny her.
Alanah's POV
I dragged Atton out of the cockpit and headed towards the garage. The garage should be empty since, Bao-Dur had long since retired to the starboard dormitory for some rest. And, when we entered, HK was nowhere in sight. Good.
I dragged Atton to the workbench, "Give me the Kaiburr crystal." I ordered. He obeyed. I took out my light saber and replace the Opila crystal with the Kaiburr. After assembling it, I ignited my silver light saber and admired the new energy within it. I switch it off and looked over a Atton. "Now give me your light saber." I demanded. He gave his double bladed light saber to me without a word. "Now give me the Ankarres Sapphire." He obeyed without a complaint. I reached into a pocket of my robe and took out another crystal. I worked on his light saber for a few minutes, replacing two crystals. Atton watched silently as I reassembled with his light saber. After a few more minutes, I was finished. I gave him back his light saber and smiled, "Switch it on."
He shrugged and ignited his light saber. "What the?" Instead of the usual yellow glow, it was replaced with the silvery green glow of viridian. He smirked at me and I could see an amused glint from his dark hazel eyes.
I smiled softly, "Thought you and Visas were tired of having the same light saber colors."
Author's Notes: :laughs sheepishly: Sorry this took twice as along to update. To be very honest, I had the biggest writer's block imaginable. I started writing this chapter long ago, but it pretty much sucked in my opinion. So I decided to rewrite it. After days of no inspiration and no idea what I wanted out of this chapter- I was stuck. Then one day... two days ago to be exact... I was replaying Kotor II for the third time and I had just finished going through Freedon Nadd's temple in Dxun and... inspiration slapped me right across the face. Then I went straight to my computer and started writing. Once I started writing, more ideas kept flowing into my demented little head of mine and this rewrite was born. I had so much fun writing this chapter- I hope it shows. This probably is one of my favorite chapters now. Next chapter will be the meeting between the masters on Dantooine. Heh, and I'm planning on making Kreia very evil... especially to our favorite pazaak playing scoundrel. Sadly, the update will probably take long as well. I'm going back to school in exactly a week so.. yeah. Yup, this is my last week of freedom and I'm choosing to spend it wisely... which means I'm going on a shopping spree. :laughs: Thank you to all my reviewers and readers. See you all next chapter!
Reviewer Responses:
LuvsDelkoSpeed- Heh, I loved that line as well! You know Atton would so say that to Mical if he had a chance. Lol Thanks for reviewing.
Ewanlover64- :lol: Very true! I wish I could find a good Di&Exile fic. Hmm... maybe I'll write one after I'm done with 'Emotions'. Maybe. Thanks for reviewing!
iggy1297- Sorry Visas didn't make an appearance in this chapter. I couldn't find a way to fit her in anywhere. Thanks for your input and review, though!
Kuramas Girl Angel- I couldn't think of anything interesting for Atton to do or say if he were to go on Iziz with Kreia and Alanah. So I made him the leader of the Dxun exploration. 'Cause I love Atton and treat him better than anyone else on the crew. :lol: But seriously, thanks for your input and review.
Secret Whisper 92- Sorry for the VERY long wait. I'm glad you liked the rave scene and thanks for reviewing.
Onasi26- Don't worry, I'll continue to update Emotions as much as I can. Thanks for reviewing!
Melanie K. Schultz- :laughs: 'Frack' is pretty much Star Wars version of the 'F-bomb'. It's weird. I can easily type up the S-bomb(shitaki) or ass, but I just can't type out the 'F-bomb'. Oh well. Thanks for reviewing.
Thanks to all my reviewers and readers for their patience! I'm truly very sorry that the updates are getting longer and longer. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for Chapter 13! We're up to chapter 13, peoples! Can you believe it!