I do not own Star Wars or any of the characters.
Worth
Damian opened his eyes, staring at the lightsaber crystal hovering in front of him. He could make a new lightsaber for it, if he wanted, but he had better ideas for it. He held out his pistol, deconstructing it and swapping out the power source for the lightsaber crystal. He also swapped out the pieces responsible for stabilizing the energy the pistol fired, the pieces responsible for keeping ti from overheating, and the barrel to one made of Mandalorian Iron so that it wouldn't melt. Then, he put it back together and smiled. He put it away, holding his lightsaber up again and sighing.
"You're a lightsaber short," Ahsoka said. "We should probably fix that."
"How?" Damian asked, following Ahsoka as she turned and walked away.
"You and I are going to Ilum," Ahsoka said. "There's a...trial that you have to undertake, and I'm going to as well. I'm no longer a Jedi, but I want to go through with the test. I want to earn my place again."
"What about Barriss?" Damian asked.
"She doesn't want to be a Jedi," Ahsoka said. "She enjoys being like she is too much."
"What do you mean?" Damian asked.
"As a Jedi, we take vows of celibacy, we can not have any form of attachments, and we're not supposed to commit crimes," Ahsoka said.
"So, basically all of the things I do," Damian said.
"Yes," Ahsoka said. "However, those were the rules of the Jedi order I knew. From what I read in the library, and also with you as living proof, the ancient Jedi order had no such rule regarding relationships. But back then, loved ones were used all the time against those that loved them. So it was outlawed. Not that anyone followed the rule. Master Yoda had a couple of relationships when he was younger, if I remember correctly, Master Kit Fisto and Master Aayla Secura were married, Master Kenobi was in love with one of the Mandalorian rulers, my master was married in secret. Hell Master Ki Adi Mundi wad five wives and seven children. Basically the only one to follow the rule was Master Windu."
"So, what, you're not going to try and make me follow that rule?" Damian asked.
"Oh like I could make you do that if I tried," Ahsoka snorted. "No. I never understood the rule because it's impossible to go through life without forming attachments."
Damian nodded as they reached the Wraith and got on, sitting down. Ahsoka tok the controls, piloting them off the planet and then entering the Hyperspace coordinates and jumping. After about four hours, they arrived at Ilum, a planet of eternal winter where the entirety of the planet was covered by ice with an endless blizzard. Ahsoka piloted to a small flat area on planet and landed, telling Katie to keep the ship running. Then, she handed Damian a heat-reflective cloak, pulling her own on. Damian pulled his on and they left the ship, Ahsoka leading him into the blizzard. Damian pulled his cloak tight around him, shivering hard despite it. After nearly ten minutes of walking through the blizzard, they finally stepped into a glacier gave, both barely warm enough to avoid freezing to death. Damian stumbled over to Ahsoka, who was sitting against the wall. He knelt beside her and she looked up at him tiredly.
"M-M-Made it," Ahsoka stammered, shivering badly. "G-G-Guess I sh-should have p-p-parked closer."
"We'll m-m-make it," Damian said, pulling her against him, making sure their cloaks were out of the way and allowing the Force to flow through him, warming him slowly. "I -d-d-definitely don't like this p-p-place though."
"It'll only get worse," Ahsoka sighed, pressing herself closer to him, closing her eyes and enjoying the warmth radiating off of him. "You'll have to teach me to do this."
"Don't worry," Damian smiled. "After this, I'll teach you anything you want to know."
Ahsoka nodded, sighing contentedly as Damian wrapped his cloak around them, trapping his heat. After a few minutes, Ahsoka sighed, pushing herself up and wrapping her own cloak around her as Damian did the same.
"Alright," Ahsoka said, turning to the cave.
It was massive, a huge rounded chamber reaching hundreds off feet upward with paths winding around and around it, nearly a hundred tunnels extending out of the chamber from all over, some not even having a path.
"You have to take your path," Ahsoka said. "The Force will present you with a test of some sort, it varies from Jedi to Jedi."
"How do I know which path is mine?" Damian asked.
"The Force will guide you," Ahsoka said.
"And what am I looking for?" Damian asked.
"In the words of basically every Jedi Master ever, nothing but something," Ahsoka said. "In reality, trust me when I tell you you'll know it when you find it."
"So, what happens if I fail my test?" Damian asked.
"You die," Ahsoka said. "And if you pass, you'll be given a Lightsaber Crystal and you'll be worthy of being named Jedi."
"What about you?" Damian asked.
"If the Force deems me worthy, I'll be tested as well," Ahsoka said.
Damian nodded, sitting down and beginning to meditate. He extended his senses, feeling every tunnel, every path. The very walls of the cave all but glowed with the Force. Damian took a breath, opening himself up, not searching anymore, simply allowing the Force to flow through him. After a bit, he sensed something from one of the tunnels. It was different than usual. Like when you're looking at a painting and for whatever reason your eyes keep going back to a specific spot even when you don't want to. He stood, opening his eyes and turning to the tunnel. Or, more accurately, looking up at it. It was dead center of the roof of the cave, not a single path there. Or any hand holds inside of it. It was the one and only perfectly smooth path.
"The Force would make me take that path," Damian sighed. "Well, I better get going."
"Good luck," Ahsoka said.
Damian nodded, walking to the path around the edge and walking along it to the edge then leaping onto a column beside the path. From there, he climbed up as high as he could before leaping to the tunnel, slamming his feet into the wall on either side, his hands extended over his head, also pressing against the wall. He grit his teeth, his muscles already protesting, and began to inch his way up the tunnel. It was tortuously slow progress. After twenty minutes of inching his way up the wall, it finally leveled out and he dropped to the ground, panting, sweat pouring off of him and freezing as it hit the ground, and then lay down, pulling his cloak tight around him and letting the Force flow through him to keep himself warm. After a minute, he stood, looking down the tunnel, which was pitch black. He pulled his night vision goggles out and put them on, activating their IR light, walking down the tunnel. After several seconds, however, the IR light flickered and died before sparks burst out of the side of the goggles. Damian sighed, pulling them off and dropping them, looking around.
"Such a disappointment," a voice suddenly spoke from the darkness.
"Indeed," another deeper one agreed. "It would seem he'll never be able to succeed."
"Great," Damian sighed. "Voices in my head. Again. I hate this planet more and more by the second."
He walked down the tunnel, a hand trailing along the wall as he did, eyes closed since there was no light anyway. After a time, his foot steps suddenly began to echo and he stopped, opening his eyes only to see darkness. He closed his eyes again, extending his senses. He knew for sure that he was in a cavern. But it was too dark to see anything.
"Can he truly not see?" the first voice asked.
"Yes it appears he is yet blind," the second responded.
"He has always been blind hasn't he?" the first voice asked.
"Yes brother, he has," the second said. "Perhaps we should use this to our advantage."
"Oh splendid idea!" the first exclaimed. "What fun!"
Damian heard a pair of lightsabers extend themselves and opened his eyes but still there was only darkness.
"He thinks he can see because of our sabers," the second voice said.
"Sadly our sabers are dark," the first said. "Black as night and absorbing the light."
Damian closed his eyes, swallowing hard and extending his own lightsaber, not bothering to open his eyes, somehow knowing it wouldn't help. He listened as the lightsabers hummed and swished through the air, growing closer. As he listened, he allowed the Force to flow through him, reaching out with it. Suddenly, despite his eyes being closed, there were a pair of white silhouettes moving around inside of his eyelids. Each also had a long glowing white stick that was obviously their lightsabers. Damian smiled, readying himself as they approached. Then, one leapt at him, slashing and Damian blocked the slash, kicking him back before blocking the other's lightsaber blade as well. He twisted, shoving the blade into the other's path, blocking that one, then slashed at the silhouettes, both leaping away.
"It would seem he has learned to see, Brother," the second voice said.
"Indeed it would," the first said. "Perhaps he has passed our test."
"I believe he has," the second nodded.
Then, both silhouettes faded.
"Should we warn him about that other thing?" the first asked.
"Yes let's," the second said.
"Be careful human," the first said. "A Dark Side wielder has entered the cave looking for you. They will not be tested, and they will find you further in. Be ready, for they will be a dangerous test of your abilities."
"I understand," Damian nodded. "Thank you."
Then, he allowed the force to guide him, walking out into the chamber and soon finding himself in another tunnel. he set his hand on the wall as he walked and after a little bit, the wall seemed to vanish. He stepped backward but it wasn't there. He opened his eyes. He was in his room in the house on Alderaan, and in his bed were Ahsoka, Riyo, and Barriss, Ahsoka currently lying on top of Barriss with Riyo above her, Riyo and Barriss shoving strap-on dildos into Ahsoka's holes rapidly, Ahsoka clearly only a few seconds away from cumming.
"Oh yes!" Ahsoka wailed, tilting her head back as her body began to jerk. "I'm cumming! Oh, Damian! They're making me cum! Oh, I want you inside me! Please fuck me!"
Damian smirked. He really wanted to join in, illusion or not. But it was an illusion. And he knew that if he was supposed to be tested, it probably wasn't a test on his sexual prowess.
"Sorry Ahsoka," Damian sighed. "I'd love you but you're only an illusion."
"So?" Ahsoka asked. "This could be your only chance to fuck me and have me love every second of it. And it'll be the best fuck of your life."
"I'm not fucking an illusion Ahsoka," Damian said, closing his eyes. "I'm not that desperate."
He opened his eyes again and was greeted with darkness. He raised a hand to his side and found the tunnel's wall. He sighed, continuing along the tunnel. Finally, he stepped into a cavern where there was a little light. He opened his eyes, finding that there was a whole in the roof of the cavern, allowing a shaft of light in, that then reflected off of the pile of snow in the middle then off the ice inside the cavern. He walked into the cavern, looking around. No exits. Anywhere. The tunnel he had just left was even gone. The only opening was the hole in the roof.
"Typical," Damian sighed.
"What is?" a voice asked, Damian spinning toward it to find a woman with an extremely slender figure and glowing white skin with glowing white moth-like wings extending from her back standing before him, completely nude.
"An Angel?" Damian blinked. "Well, I can honestly say that's one I've never been able to take credit for, but now's not really the best time."
"You don't want me?" the Angel asked, reaching behind herself. "I want you."
She pulled lightsaber from behind herself, the grip inside of a round, sharpened ring, and extended two lightsaber blades from it, both blood red. Damian's eyebrows rose.
"An Angel Sith Stalker?" Damian asked.
"Sith Stalker?" the Angel asked. "I am an Inquisitor."
"Never heard of it," Damian said, drawing his own lightsaber. "Let's make this quick shall we?"
The Angel held the lightsaber out to her side and it began to spin, quickly speeding up to a blurred disk. Damian sighed, rolling his eyes as the Angel lunged, slashing at Damian. Damian ducked under it, slashing back and she jumped, easily getting over the slash before her own lightsaber stopped spinning and she slashed downward. Damian blocked the blade and spun around her, slashing again only for her to use the other blade to block the slash before spinning and slashing at him. Damian ducked under the attach before shoving her with the Force, getting absolutely no effect. She slashed at him again and he sidestepped it, a piece of his cloak fluttering away before he ripped the entire cloak off, hurling it to the side and readying himself. She lunged at him and he ducked under the blade, slashing downward vertically. He heard the lightsaber cut through something, felt the slight resistance, then spun, seeing her standing a short distance away, one wing missing.
"I'll kill you for that," the Angel snarled.
She began to spin her lightsaber again and hurled it. Damian slashed it upward and it curved around toward her again, Damian charging. She swung the lightsaber around in front of herself and Damian stabbed. His lightsaber passed through the gap between the spinning ring and the stationary handle of the lightsaber, then drove itself through her heart. Her eyes widened before Damian slashed upward, splitting her from her heart up through her head as well as ruining her lightsaber. He retracted his lightsaber blade as she collapsed then sighed, lookin around and seeing that there was now a tunnel off to one side. He walked down it, the tunnel remaining lit from the light coming through the hole in the other chamber until he reached the end of the tunnel, a massive open chamber with the floor dropping away in front of him and several stalagmites sticking up from the darkness several hundred meters away, too far to jump.
"Now what?" Damian sighed. "I don't understand, there's no path. Where do I go from here?"
Silence. Of course. Damian sighed, sitting down and beginning to meditate. Except, there was something off. He could sense something he shouldn't. Himself. He opened his eyes just as a spot on the centermost stalagmite began to glow the same shade of yellow as his lightsaber.
"What is that?" Damian said, squinting to try to see it.
"The thing you seek, that is," a voice said from around him.
"Who's there?" Damian asked, looking around.
"So sure that not alone, are you?" the voice asked. "How would you know?"
"Is this another test?" Damian asked.
"Many forms of tests, there are," the voice said. "Not all are clear to see. Perhaps a test, this is. Or perhaps not."
"You're not making sense," Damian said.
"Perhaps lost my mind, I have," the voice said. "Or perhaps lost yours, you have. Or perhaps not. Strange is the way the Force works."
"So the light is a Lightsaber crystal?" Damian sighed.
"Yes," Yoda said. "But not just any. Connected to you, the crystal has. Only to you, does the crystal respond. Use it, no one else can."
"What'll happen if they try?" Damian asked.
"Nothing," the voice said. "One with only your Living Force, the crystal is."
"How do I get it?" Damian asked.
"Find a way, you will," the voice said.
Damian sighed, backing up then sprinting forward, leaping toward it. Sure enough, he barely made it half way before beginning to fall. He reached out with the Force, pulling at the stalagmite and shot toward it again, but again began to fall short. He reached to his belt, pulling out a grappling hook, hurling it to the Stalagmite and barely getting it to wrap around and hook onto itself, resulting in Damian slamming into the stalagmite, hard. he sighed, getting his feet onto the stalagmite and walking up it, reaching the lightsaber crystal fairly quickly. He pulled it out of the stalagmite and smiled, slipping it into his belt just as the line creaked.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Damian sighed.
The line snapped and Damian fell, being swallowed up by the darkness almost instantly. When he awoke, he was lying in the entrance chamber, and pushed himself up, looking around. Ahsoka was lying on the ground a short distance away.
"Ahsoka!" Damian shouted, sprinting to her and picking her up, instantly seeing the lightsaber stab wound and checking for a pulse.
Nothing. Damian set her down, beginning CPR instantly but after several seconds he stopped, sitting back and staring.
"Sh...she..." Damian stared at her for several more seconds before a though occurred to him.
All of the test he had gone through, even the Angel, weren't really that hard. Damian was expecting to be tested to see if he could overcome his greatest fear. Instead, he got attacked in the dark and learned to see with the Force, got tempted to sleep with Ahsoka, Barriss, and Riyo Chuchi together which was probably the most challenging test for him, and he got attacked by a possibly fake Dark Side using Angel who was completely naked when she attacked him. not exceptionally hard. This would be the first test that actually legitimately was hard, assuming it was a test. Damian stared at Ahsoka a moment longer and sat down, closing his eyes. It was a test. It had to be. Ahsoka couldn't be dead. He couldn't accept that.
He began to meditate, letting the Force flow through him, calming him as it did. Slowly the cold breeze from the mouth of the cave faded and a slightly claustrophobic feeling grew inside of him. He opened his eyes and found himself lying in a very thin crack in the ice, stalagmites at the top reaching up into the darkness. Damian sighed, smiling slightly. He groaned, reaching up to the top of the crack and pulled his cold, aching body out of the crack, rolling onto his back and allowing the Force to flow through him to warm himself.
"Lying down on the job?" an all too familiar voice asked.
Damian rolled over, glaring at the Sith Stalker that had been so confusingly not trying to kill him time and again.
"Now, what's that look for?" the Sith Stalker asked. "And here I was offering help."
"Help?" Damian asked, eyes narrowing.
"That's right," the Sith Stalker said. "I can and will help you, if you want."
"Help me with what?" Damian asked.
"I was taken from the Jedi Order," the Sith Stalker said. "Captured by Darth Bane and surgically transformed into this, then taken to the Home World of the Sith, a place of endless evil. A place where there is no Light Side. Only the Dark. I was kept there until I became what you see now. I knew that if I did not play my part, I would be left there. So I became the loyal servant of the monster that turned me into this. I bear no love for the Sith. I want to kill the Emperor. But before that can happen, he must be weakened. He must be exposed. I cannot defeat Lord Vader. And I cannot openly oppose the Empire without both Lord Vader and all of the Inquisitors being sent after me. I can handle a few Inquisitors at a time, but there are many.
"How many?" Damian asked.
"Too many," the Sith Stalker said. "I have been hounding you, to keep the other Sith Stalkers off of your back. I have been fighting you to track your progress. It's not disappointing. You have grown strong. quickly. But not strong enough. I have meditated with the Light Side of the Force to try to counteract what happened to me. I cannot. But while meditating, I had a vision, of you. You must grow as strong as possible as quickly as possible, without using the Dark Side of the Force. You will be involved in many, many battles against the Empire, and you and your friends will have to destroy the Sith Stalkers. All of us. You must save a Jedi Master, and a Sith, and you will safeguard a rebellion. But, before you can do that, you must first make a decision."
"What decision?" Damian asked.
"Who shall lose their life, you or Ahsoka?" the Sith Stalker said.
"I'm not letting Ahsoka die," Damian said.
"Now is not the time to decide," the Sith Stalker said. "That time will come. For now, you must focus on getting stronger. Stop being a Smuggler for now. Train. Hone your skills. And use your own connection to the Force to help your two Jedi friends. Make them strong. Make sure Barriss Offee goes through her own trial as well. She'll need it."
"Why are you telling me all of this?" Damian asked.
"Because if you fail, the Empire will win," the Sith Stalker said. "And also, because I knew your ancestor, Satele Shan."
"I see," Damian nodded. "I suppose I have no reason not to accept the information. It's not like believing or not believing changes anything. Will you help me more directly in the future?"
"Perhaps," the Sith Stalker said. "Or perhaps not. We'll see."
Damian nodded and the Sith Stalker stepped backward into a shadow, vanishing. Damian looked around, seeing a tunnel and following it, soon coming to the top of a slope. He slid down it and after about three minutes, he slid out of it, slowing to a stop in the entrance chamber just as Ahsoka walked out of her own tunnel, holding a pair of pure white crystals. Damian held up his own yellow one and Ahsoka smiled and nodded.
"Looks like we both passed," Ahsoka said. "Where's your cloak?"
"I got attacked by something called an Inquisitor," Damian said. "Some sort of Dark Side wielding Jedi hunter who's weaker than a Sith Stalker but has the same job."
"I see," Ahsoka nodded. "Alright. I assume your cloak was ruined in the fight."
"Yeah," Damian nodded, looking out into the blizzard. "So, we have two options. You go alone and try to find your way back, then bring the ship back for me, or we share your cloak and try to find out way back together."
"Get over here," Ahsoka said, holding her cloak open. "I'm not leaving you in this cave."
Damian nodded, smiling, and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her as she closed the cloak, holding it closed as he used the Force to warm himself, Ahsoka sighing contentedly. Damian glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes before pulling away slightly and sighing, getting her attention.
"What's wrong?" Ahsoka asked.
"I need to tell you something, and I need to ask something else."
"Alright," Ahsoka nodded. "What's up?"
"The Sith Stalker that we keep meeting found me in there," Damian said. "He said he's a former Jedi who was more or possessed by the Dark Side and wants revenge. He said that the one time he tried to reach the Light Side, he had a vision of us killing the Sith Stalkers, leading a rebellion and...not being able to kill Vader."
"Is that it?" Ahsoka asked. "I feel like there's something else."
"He mentioned a death but he didn't say who," Damian said.
Ahsoka nodded.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Ahsoka said. "We're going to be okay. You'll see. We're not going to let anyone die."
"We're trying to start a war," Damian said. "There's always going to be casualties. I'm not afraid of that."
Ahsoka was silent for a second before pressing on. "You...you said you wanted to ask something."
"Um, yeah," Damian said, blushing slightly and trying to figure out how to word his question. "The first night I was back...I uh...I woke up to you in my room. Was that really you?"
Ahsoka was silent for several seconds, staring at him with her eyebrows knitted together in thought. Then, she leaned forward, pressing her lips to his lightly. Damian kissed her back happily, pulling her against him again for several seconds before Ahsoka pulled back.
"Does that answer the question?" Ahsoka asked.
"Maybe," Damian said. "Still a little fuzzy on the details, though."
Ahsoka rolled her eyes before kissing him back. It lasted a little longer this time, Damian reveling in the feeling of holding her against him and her lips on his as his stomach flipped and his brain went numb. Finally, she pulled away again, tucking her head under his chin and he smiled, resting his chin on her head. After a bit, Ahsoka wrapped the cloak tight around him again and they walked out into the blizzard, Damian using the Force to keep himself slightly warmer than the air around him, in turn keeping Ahsoka warmer. It was a losing battle, but it was better than on the way over. After roughly fifteen minutes, they reached the ship, climbing into it and sitting down as Katie closed the ramp and took off, flying into the atmosphere.
Damian sat in the pilot's seat with Ahsoka in his lap, warming up from his increased body heat. While she did, Damian pulled out his crystal and held it up.
"Guardian," Ahsoka said. "Gold crystals are for those who devote themselves to protecting. It's also connected with your Living Force connection directly. Lucky. Only you will be able to wield that thing's lightsaber."
Damian nodded as Ahsoka held up her two white crystals.
"White is for the pure," Ahsoka said. "Those who always do what's right, even if it costs them. Those who are a constant source of light for those around them. But I left the Jedi Order. I'm not pure."
"You are," Damian smiled. "You're the single best person I've ever met."
Ahsoka smiled, curling into him and he wrapped his arms around her.
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