Legal Hype: Star Wars and Darth Maul and Sidious belong to George Lucas. Trinitaia is mine and mine alone, talk to me on chat if you want to borrow her. Please review (I only post finished stories).
This story takes place right after the fight with Obi-Wan. It blends in some fantasy (magic, immortality, what have you) stuff. There is some romance (later) and enjoy.
Darth Maul cursed himself for the umpteenth time for his overconfidence. How dare that Padawan brat beat me! The unfairness of it, after beating the Master Jedi, coursed through him with another wave of agony. He'd probably hit the bottom soon. Then you can be called Darth Mush. He would have laughed at his own dark humor had he not been so angry. It also took all of his strength to stay conscious, his own personal punishment for failure.
All of a sudden, he slowed down. Someone (because it was definitely NOT him) was using the force to slow his decent. This distracted him, and he began to lose consciousness. He felt himself (at least the top half of himself) touch the ground gently. A blurred face came into his line of vision, and whispered words reached his fading mind. "Let me help you." Then all went dark.
He awoke in a soft bed in a darkened room. Maul sat up, and realized that his legs were re-attached to his upper torso. The skin where he was cut in half bore a faint scar and was slightly tender. The room was nearly pitch black, but he sensed no other life forms near by (the fact that he was unarmed if there was an enemy eluded his reasoning). He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and gingerly tried to put his full weight on them. As he stood, the room spun around him and he promptly sat back down, gripping the headboard like there was no tomorrow.
Preparing himself to try again, the door slid open and light flooded in. Someone stood in the doorway and flipped the lights in the room on. It took Maul's eyes a minute to adjust, and when he did, he simply gaped.
Standing before him was a young woman, maybe twenty. She was at least as tall as he was with thigh length red-blond hair pulled back in a tight braid. She had full, dark pink lips and flawless ivory skin. She wore a long-sleeved dark blue dress that fir every slender curve. The shocking part, though, was the eyes. They were an impossibly deep blue that seemed to draw in everything. They were mesmerizing (almost literally). Maul had done a lot of traveling and seen many species, but he had never encountered anyone, or anything, with eyes that color.
He recovered from his shock quickly. "Who are you?" He growled.
The girl smiled. Smiled! " Your welcome for saving your life." She had a lovely light voice. Her eyes shone with a mischievous and curious gleam. "My name is Trinitaia Marbruke. Trin, for short. And you are…?" Trin inclined her head toward him.
"I am Darth Maul, but YOU may call me Lord Maul." By this time he had checked and found he was wearing shorts. "So how did YOU save me?" He felt no power from this girl, so he doubted she was the one responsible for his recovery.
"Oh no, Lord Maul, I am responsible." Trin answered his thoughts. "But, I'm afraid I don't know how to explain what I did."
Maul leapt up in rage and grabbed Trin by the arm. Squeezing nearly to the point of breaking a humans arm, he shouted, "How did you do that? How did you read my mind?"
Trin looked into his burning yellow eyes and looked more uncertain than afraid. "I don't know. I just do that sometimes." She answered softly.
"What do you mean you don't know?" He asked menacingly, narrowing his eyes at her.
"I have amnesia. Beyond my name, I don't know anything about myself." Maul released her and stepped back. He immediately got dizzy and Trin caught him before he fell. She was surprisingly strong and eased him back onto the bed. "You shouldn't have gotten up. I healed the physical damage, but you're going to be weak for a while."
"Healed?" Maul looked at Trin suspiciously.
"I…" Trin looked uncertain, "I have a healing touch. I can mend physical injuries and make plants grow." She shrugged helplessly. "I just don't know exactly how I do it."
Darth Maul growled at her and continued to glare. Trin continued to smile, oblivious to any sort of danger.
"How'd you end up in two pieces?" Trin looked genuinely curious.
"How did you stop me from hitting the ground?"
"It's very rude to answer a question with a question." Trin put her left hand on her hip and wagged her right hand index finger at him in a reprimanding gesture.
"It is none of your business how I ended up that way." Maul was seriously starting to lose patience with this insolent girl. Didn't she know how dangerous a Sith was?
"Well then, it's obviously none of your business how I stopped your decent."
Maul suppressed the urge to get up and throttle her. "We'll deal with questions later. Leave so I can sleep." He made a dismissing gesture and lied back down.
"Very well, Lord Maul. We'll begin to build your strength when you're ready." Trin backed to the door and turned the lights out. Maul snorted at her remark, certain he would get up and leave whenever the hell he felt like it. "Sleep well." She said, and closed the door.
I am going to kill her VERY soon! Maul thought as Trin brought in his food with a huge smile on her face. Seeing that cheerful persona everyday was starting to grate on his nerves. At least it motivates me to get better faster. Maul had been stuck in this small house on the outskirts of Naboo's capitol for four days now. He had contacted his Master Darth Sidious, who was rather surprised, but also somewhat pleased, by his imminent recovery. He told Darth Maul to return as quickly as was possible.
"Morning Lord Maul! So how are we today?" Trin interrupted his thoughts (she did that constantly) and looked at him as if to say 'you can talk to me, I won't bite.'
Pity, that. Maul quickly shook off that thought and grunted at her. The food was quite good, nutritious but with plenty of flavor. Trin never got a compliment out of him, and upon finding she didn't read his thoughts unless he projected them, he never gave any. Didn't seem to bother her, though. Nothing did, to his disappointment.
"I've been called by my boss to come and do some work today, so I might not be back before night fall." Trin smirked at him. "I hope you don't starve while I'm gone." Maul had been nearly inhaling his food.
"Good, don't come back." He snarled. There was a courtyard next to her home and he was anxious to do some exercises. He disliked being confined to bed and this building; he was restless, rather like a caged animal.
Trin shrugged at his comment and left the room. Maul got up when he had finished his breakfast and dressed (she had mended his clothes and made a similar outfit for him, so he didn't only have one change of clothes). The building was small, but had two floors. Two bedrooms dominated the upstairs and the kitchen and living room were on the bottom floor. The living room had a fireplace that seemed out of place in the land of technology. The kitchen had a table for eating on and on the table sat his lightsaber. It was repaired and newly cleaned.
Maul just stared at it for a few minutes before picking it up. He ignited both ends and was extremely pleased to find that the balance was perfect. He took the lightsaber outside and began his usual exercise routine.
Maul lasted about half his usual time. He came in the house exhausted and famished. He dug around in the small fridge and found a sandwich waiting. As all he had done since waking the morning after meeting Trin was exercise, his curiosity got the better of him as he was alone now in the house. He began to explore. The mantle over the fireplace was devoid of any ornament save a vase with fresh wild flowers. Completely disinterested in the rest of the room, he wandered upstairs and looked into Trin's room. It was clean and orderly. She had a small bookshelf with a few actual books on it. Mostly stories, but some accounts of Naboo's history.
There was a full-length mirror on the wall, and a few pictures. On the small table next to her bed, there was a drawing pad. Smiling to himself at what sort of stick figures she probably drew, he walked over and opened the book. Inside, however, the drawings were very impressive. She had pictures of large winged lizards, plants, people, and Naboo itself. Maul came to a picture of himself. It was a full body picture with his shirt off from one of the times (he assumed) he had been exercising. It was surprisingly well done. Maul closed the book and put back where it had been. He wandered around some more before going back downstairs to have a try at a less strenuous routine.
It was well past dark when Maul heard Trin return home. He was in his room meditating.
"Have you eaten yet Lord Maul?" Trin called from down stairs.
"No." He called back. Something seemed different about here voice. More strained.
"I'll make you some dinner then. It will only be a few minutes." Maul couldn't place what was wrong, so he went back to his own thoughts. A few minutes later there was a knock on his door, something Trin almost never did. She walked in immediately afterwards, but it was the thought that counted. She handed him a plate of food, and mumbled something along the lines of "I hope you'll enjoy it." Then she turned around and left.
Maul was rather surprised for a minute or two. It looked as though she had been crying. She had tried a half-hearted attempt at a smile, but it was limp and devoid of the usual cheerfulness. He briefly contemplated going to see what was the matter. Why do I care what is wrong with her? Her boss probably yelled at her. Maul went about eating his meal and then went to sleep, thinking nothing more about it.
The next morning, Maul got up, intending to eat downstairs, less like and invalid. Sure enough, Trin was busy in the kitchen making something. She greeted him cheerfully enough, but there was a subtle darkness in her eyes that hadn't been there before. Most people would have missed it, but Maul was well taught and good at reading people. He chose to ignore it.
"Good morning Lord Maul. I see you're feeling better." She walked over and put some food on the able for him.
"I intend to leave today. Where is the nearest transport?" Maul looked directly at her as she tilted her head to the side.
"It's about three miles from here. I can take you there, or just tell you where it is."
"Just tell me, I don't need your help getting a transport."
"As you wish, Lord Maul."
About a mile to the transport, Maul was attacked by two Jedi in a large alleyway. They were young and not too much experienced, but he was not in top form. While he fought them he didn't notice the third person coming up behind him with a blaster. Trin suddenly ran into the alley at the other end and did notice the man with the blaster.
She threw out both her arms and yelled, "NO!", loudly. The man was thrown against a wall, shattering his skull, but a blast got off and hit Trin in the upper stomach. She collapsed and lay still. Maul quickly finished off the two Jedi and walked over to her. He found a pulse and started to walk away. Changing his mind, he walked back and slung her over his shoulder. He continued on his way to the transport.
I don't believe they were that stupid. Maul thought to himself. In front of him was the Infiltrator. The two Jedi he had killed had left it here. Undoubtedly, they were going to keep it for themselves. Too bad. Maul walked aboard his ship and placed Trin on a table in front of one of the medical droids. "Make sure she doesn't die." He growled at it and walked back to the cockpit.
He found some clearance codes and silently thanked the Jedi for the convenience. He took off immediately and contacted his Master. A hologram of Sidious appeared in a few minutes.
"I am on my way back, my Master." Maul said as he knelt to the hologram.
"Excellent, apprentice, I await your return. We have much to plan."
"Of course, Master."
The hologram switched off and Maul got a message from the med droid. "Sir?"
"What? She hasn't died has she?"
"No sir, actually she is awake and none to pleased. We found some other injuries on her and-," the message was abruptly cut off. Maul got up with an angry scowl on his face and walked back to the med lab. What greeted his eyes was Trin looking down at the very broken medical droid, sticking her tongue out at it. She stopped when she saw Maul and actually looked releaved.
"This is your ship, I take it Lord Maul?"
"Yes." Maul suddenly remembered what the droid had said before it's demise. Seeing the bandages all around Trin's torso (her shirt had been taken off, too bad the bandages covered everything), he immediately noticed the burnt area where she had been shot. The bandages where there before, then. "What other injury do you have?"
"Who me?" Trin backed up a bit and looked left and right for some sort of escape.
"Yes, you. Don't even bother trying to get away, we're in the middle of space. Unless you don't have to breath, you're stuck." He walked forward until he was right in front of her. "So give."
"You know, a girl could take that the wrong way." Trin tried at humor, then, with a large sigh, turned around. The whole of her back was red where the bandages had soaked up the blood. Maul grabbed a scalpel from on a nearby table and carefully cut off the dressing. Trin hissed once in pain as he peeled the cloth off the injuries, but said nothing.
On her back were six deep gouges. They still bled, but none of them seemed infected. Maul gingerly examined them. "What happened?"
"My boss. I didn't do what he wanted, so I was punished." Trin answered through gritted teeth.
"He isn't allowed to, not on Naboo."
"Well excuse me for not knowing all the local laws. He was the only person who took me in and took care of me. He told me what was what. How was I to know if he was really telling the truth?"
"You can read minds." Maul pointed out.
"I can pick up thoughts. I haven't mastered reading of my own will."
"Why didn't you heal these?"
"It's one thing to heal others, quite another to heal oneself." Trin said. Quietly, almost to herself, she said, "But I didn't cry out once when he did this. I didn't give him that satisfaction."
Maul was very impressed. From the depth of some of the cuts, he wasn't so sure he would have done as well. "Lie down on the table, the med droids will take care of these." Maul said, then started to walk out.
"Lord Maul?" Trin called tentively. Maul stopped, but didn't turn back around. "Thank you."
Maul sat in front of the controls for a few minutes, then turned the Infiltrator around, going back towards Naboo. There was unfinished business there.