Part 20: Et Voilà And There He Is
"Hey, I hear a hum up there! I think it's an omen from the gods! Or maybe the iJeedai/i!" Sheng Lah heard someone shout excitedly as he strolled down the rotting stairs. He could tell that the voice belonged to either a Shamed One or a worker since the language was Yuuzhan Vong and members of higher castes rarely used such tones and words.
"Of course you do! That hum is in the direction of the Place of Bones!" replied another. Before the Yuuzhan Vong Jedi could think, he found himself battling a mob made mostly of underprivileged Yuuzhan Vong for a way down the stairs. He grunted as he smashed into several excited Shamed Ones.
"Out of the way, warrior!" One member of the mob shouted. Sheng Lah was swept off his feet, only to find himself being trampled on by the jittery, excited mob.
Anger swept through the young man as he realized who was inadvertently setting foot on his gray skin. The Jedi taught him to remain calm, but even a Jedi's temper had its limits, especially when idiotic ships and crazed mobs tempted his wrath on the same day. He roared, "What in the name of Yun Yuuzhan is going on here? What's this about the Place of Bones?"
"That is not for you to know, enforcer of Shimrra!" Another Shamed One replied.
Sheng Lah swung his head around to see a severely disfigured man speaking. A lock of wild, black hair blocked his vision but an attempt at prostrating himself blew the hair back. The speaker's head was bald and his face disfigured to the point where it was a wonder that it managed to stay together at all. Both the voice and the missing eye reminded him of something he saw on the HoloNet, but he could not, for the life of him, remember what it was. The Yuuzhan Vong Jedi looked at the strange Shamed One again and realized that something about the visage was horribly wrong.
"You are mistaken. I do not work for the Overlord; in fact, I am a…" Sheng Lah stopped short of divulging that he was a Jedi Knight as the man to whom he spoke showed a surprise. "What the stars is that?"
Something black and putrid shot from the creature that took residence in the man's eye socket and Sheng Lah obeyed his inexplicable instincts. The Yuuzhan Vong Jedi drew his Jedi cloak about himself in defense and blocked as much of the liquid as the movement of the crowd would allow. The Jedi Knight only began to realize what he was pitted against as he watched the jet of black liquid kill some of the unprotected robeskin and seep through his skin.
The Jedi Knight, despite the events around him, closed his eyes and searched his memories. He saw flashes of his days with Domain Lah and his short stay with his mother in the bowels of Coruscant. The young man shook the early memories away and concentrated on the life he lead once he and his mother escaped to Zonama. He remembered water and the first touch he felt through the Force. That touch was from a Cha'a, the first Jedi Sheng Lah ever set his eyes on. He remembered the first time he came before the Jedi Council, which happened because the Jedi were reluctant to welcome a Yuuzhan Vong. He remembered overhearing the news as he left the room. Ten years ago, the Jedi were chased for planet to planet and discovering Force-sensitives, especially children, in refugee camps. They said the iErrant Venture/i was becoming overcrowded. When they were pursued to the Ossus, the Jedi discovered how the Old Republic trained Jedi children by placing them in medium-sized clans. Somehow, Master Veila was worked into the debates and by the end of the day, it was decided that he, and the twenty other children he came to call crèche-mates, were under her care. Sheng Lah did his best to fast forward through his memories again. While he considered his first day with the Jedi one of the best times, now was not the time to enjoy himself. He searched his memories of his days with what the Yuuzhan Vong deemed a crèche and what the Jedi named The Gray Clan, for he felt that what he was looking for was related to his most basic training.
As the poison crept through his skin cells and switched off all but the pain-sensing nerves one by one, the Jedi's eyes widened. iI think I know now! Tionne was with the clan on the /iErrant Venturei, so Master Veila somehow brought the shaper Nen Yim to talk to us. If only I can remember what was it that she said about these eye-things shooting poisons… That is it! That's a poison/i However, Sheng Lah's flash of insight was too late and the blackness of unconsciousness already began to claim his mind. He tried to bat off the tendrils of unconsciousness, but he eventually tired out and allowed them to claim him. Fortunately, he was hit with only enough poison to take him out for a few hours.
"Vua Lah, here is our missing crèche-mate! We have solved the longest missing person case in our entire history!" Sheng Lah awoke to the echoes of a stranger's shout.
"I am not convinced." Scoffed another voice.
Sheng Lah opened his eyes and found five sturdy warriors standing before his crumpled form. All five men shared a deep, ear-to-ear gash, and a tattoo on the backs of their hands.
"If you are Sheng Domain Lah, you will stand up." The first speaker, who stood in the middle of the group, huffed. The Jedi Knight did not know why he pushed himself up to prove his identity, but he forced himself up despite the pains in his chest.
"I am he."
"Welcome to your new homeland, crèche-brother. Come with us. You need new armor and the attentions of the shapers before we can present you to the Supreme Commander. I see that you already have your bandolier and amphistaff." Noted the leader of the group.
"My new homeland?" The dumbfounded Jedi replied. Sheng Lah finally recognized the symbols of his domain and realized that the other warriors had identified him by the tattoos on the back of his hand. For a minute, he wondered why those warriors treated him like and brother and ignored the obvious clothes of an enemy. He then remembered that he left his Jedi cloak in his ship when the planet's heat penetrated his ship and realized that he was pushed down at least half a level after the mysterious man incapacitated him. Judging from the group's leader's words, the Yuuzhan Vong Jedi deduced that the warriors counted the pocket in which he stuffed his lightsaber to be a bag full of thud bugs. iGood./i He thought as he decided to keep his affinity with the Force secret from the other members of his mother's domain.
"I see that you have not been kept current with our status. That is to be expected from the traitor Nuren. Kodachi Cha's mother is from our domain. She bribed the warmistress to recommend us to Shimrra after Domains Hul and Mourr decided to move to other planets. He gave us the hemisphere, except for the Well of the World Brain, Kodachi Cha's command tower, Shimrra's fortress, and every place the priests and shapers claimed." Explained the group's leader.
"They do not know the holy land they have abandoned. All the better for the glory of Domain Lah." Sheng Lah pretended to be a normal warrior. iSithspit! I should have recognized the scent of this place when the /iSpectrumi told me! Domain Lah sprays its territories with this scent. Hmph. I'm not surprised. What Domain Lah wants, it automatically gets when its own members are warmasters. When the warmaster isn't from Domain Lah, the domain bribed. How disgusting, yet this be my own Domain/i
"We are alike in our thinking, Sheng Lah. Domain Cha may have the leadership of our caste, but we are and forever will be the domain that most deserves the treasures of Yun-Yammka."
"Yoog Lah, are you leading us to the worldship?" Inquired the short, scrawny man at the leader's side.
"Vua Lah, our worldship is right before our eyes!" Replied the leader as he led the group down a corridor that the Yuuzhan Vong had obviously dug out. Sheng Lah could see no light, but a gush of wind told him that the one named Yoog Lah had taken the pack of warriors outside.
Sheng Lah looked up and saw the multicolored dots that illuminated the sky and seemed to form a bridge from one end of the sky to another. iThe Bridge of the Gods./i He thought in his awe. He thought the sight was merely an image from his dreams, but he was wrong. They must have been faded memories of his days with the Coruscanti Shamed Ones. iThat poison must have put me out for hours, if it's dark already./i
"Sheng Lah, welcome back to your Domain. We settled the worldship on an old temple of the iJeedai/i." Yoog Lah gave the Jedi Knight a fanged grin as he pointed at a giant, dark figure before the group.
iAnother image from another dream. This must be Domain Lah's worldship. Sithspit! They used it to run over the Jedi Temple! That must be why I feel surges in the Force./i The awed Jedi thought as he recognized the barely visible, tentacled mass before him. Sheng Lah reached out in the Force and tried to scream to as many Jedi as he could reach. He did not have many clues as to what was happening around him, but he knew that landing in Domain Lah territory and being escorted to the worldship required a change of plans.
Jacen and Ben are competing for the spotlight, so either or both of these two could be up next. You can expect the posts to get a little longer since I hate cutting long action scenes into several posts (don't know what happened, just sat down on Sunday and the next thing I knew, I took up six pages to write a lightsaber duel between two people for a fic I'm working on).