Chapter 3 – Red Horizon
Location: On board a transport ship
Time: 19 Years Before the Battle of Yavin, 1 Day After Order 66
Looking through the viewport of the transport ship and seeing Toola far behind in the distance was a relief. Even more so after making a stop on Vinsoth to take a connecting ship to his next destination. The thought of Denley's actions back on Toola haunted him, all the killing, he wanted it to be over. Taking a fight directly to the Empire wasn't exactly a good strategy, he wanted to be done fighting for now. He had to think, what was the last place in the galaxy a Jedi would go? Probably one clouded in the dark side. He recalled many conversations back on Coruscant, most with his late Master Hague, talks of dark worlds. The one that captured his imagination the most was always, of course, Dathomir.
It would be the ultimate test of his resilience and self control, to avoid succumbing to the dark side. He believed in his abilities, although they needed to be refined, perfected. It seemed that if this great betrayal had spread across the galaxy, Jedi masters would be in very short supply. The thought of leaving his training incomplete troubled him as he leaned on the wall of the transport ship. Nobody else onboard seemed to suspect who he really was, he just appeared to be another commoner heading to one of the countless spaceports in the Outer Rim, only he had no intention of making a connecting flight.
Weird, everyone back home seemed to make this planet sound so dark and evil looking. Sure, there was a slight red hue to it, but otherwise it looked like a fairly typical planet, an abundance of water and forests, quite nice! Maybe he just caught it on a good day. In any case, there were certainly worse places to find yourself on the run. A part of him hoped he would only have to go into hiding for a while, maybe this whole thing would just blow over soon. It was hard to hold onto that thought, as much as he wanted to.
The ship landed without incident, it didn't look like the Empire had locked down this sector of the galaxy just yet. He moved as inconspicuously as he could, making his way off the ship and through the spaceport, which didn't seem to have very much foot-traffic at this time. It looked like every other spaceport he'd seen, well maintained, squeaky clean walls and floors, plenty of windows showing the serene nature outside. This was probably the only real glimpse most folks ever got of the planet, but he wasn't interested in what the typical traveler would get in their brochure.
Denley did what he could to move just like the rest of the travelers, making his way out of the terminal and towards the front entrance, which of course had a fair amount of security checkpoints, manned by burly droids, probably due to the fact that it's harder to bribe them than it is an underpaid officer. What if they asked for identification? What if they reported him to the Empire? He didn't exactly feel like causing a scene either, that would only draw their attention even more than it would just falsifying his identity.
There had to be another way out of here. Sure, he knew he could just break a window and climb out, but was it worth the risk of someone hearing the noise?
Ah damn! Did I come all this way just to get busted at some stupid spaceport? Denley wondered to himself.
Just then, it hit him, the only other way he knew of to make it out without having to damage the facility or encounter customs. Perhaps it was time to put some of that Jedi training to use. He made his way back through the terminal and onto the enclosed bridge that led from the spaceport and into the shuttle. The flight attendant, a old, frail human woman, appeared confused to see Denley returning.
"Do you need something, sir?" the woman asked.
"Yeah, I'd like to leave through this vessel's emergency exit door." he said with a wave of his hand.
"Uh..." the woman muttered.
"I said I'd like to leave through the ship's emergency exit door," Denley tried again, "It's just back there, right?"
"Yeah you can leave through the ship's emergency exit door..." the woman repeated, "It's just back there, right."
"Thank you." Denley said with a smile, walking past the attendant and back onto the ship.
As he made his way through the ship, he did what he could to rationalize his use of a mind trick. While he was glad that he remembered his teachings well, a part of him felt guilty about manipulating a nice old lady like that. Sure, he didn't hurt her or anything, but it still felt a bit wrong.
Freedom! The emergency exit door opened pretty easily, and Denley stepped out without looking back. The spaceport tarmac was occupied by a few other ships, with only a few crew members here and there, too busy to pay any mind to Denley. If there were any droids acting as security out here, they certainly weren't close enough to spot him. He made his way to the edge of the runway, where a jungle awaited him, the perfect cover.
Only a few minutes after arriving on Dathomir, Denley successfully crept away from the spaceport without getting busted. Without much of a plan, and only his lightsaber at his side, he strolled through the alien jungle canopy. The trees looked like giant, gnarled fingers, which gave credibility to the creepiness Denley had heard of this planet having. The air was thicker out here, hotter, it seemed to stick to him as he went deeper into the foliage.
It seemed he had been walking for hours. His combat boots held their own, but some of the moisture from the foreign earth had seeped into them, weighing him down a bit and causing some discomfort with each step. The heat became almost unbearable, causing him to toss aside his Jedi cloak, allowing the rest of his body to breathe a little easier. He knew that before long, he'd have to find some water and shelter.
Denley could feel his legs practically screaming for a rest, so he gave in and took a seat on a rock that rested at the base of a short hill. Perhaps when he would feel up to it, getting to higher ground would allow him to see a river or stream of some sort? He didn't even know what exactly he was looking for on this planet anyway, aside from sanctuary.
"Stay right there..." a woman's voice said from behind.
Although shocked, Denley complied, for all he knew, this woman could have a gun on her. He slowly raised his hands in surrender, without looking back.
"Alright," Denley said, "Easy..."
"Don't you tell me how this is going to go." the woman said, now pressing the sharp end of a spear against the back of Denley's neck, "Sisters, I got him!"
Mere seconds later, three other women emerged from the trees, all carrying various melee weapons, some had spears, some had axes, all dressed in what Denley perceived as very primitive garbs. Local hunters from some tribe? They looked very human, skin colors of various complexions, but all very athletic, very intimidating. One of the women snatched the lightsaber from Denley's belt and examined it closely from every angle.
"What kind of device is this?" the curious warrior asked.
"It's clearly some type of weapon!" another of the sisters answered.
"It has no blade!" the warrior with the lightsaber argued.
"It's a lightsaber..." a third sister noted, "This is a Jedi."
"Jedi..." the first sister said as she pressed the spear harder against Denley's neck, "Your kind have been nothing but misguided crusaders to our people, bringing death and destruction with you every time! We have to dispose of him."
"Oh come on!" Denley said, "Do you even know what's happened?"
"What do you mean?" one of the sisters asked.
"I take it you people don't have holopads, so you're a bit behind the times on current events..." Denley began.
"Do not insult us, Jedi!" the spear sister said angrily.
"I meant no offense," Denley continued, "Our troops turned on us, gunned us down. We're now considered enemies of the state, and I don't know why. The Republic is now some kind of Empire, or something, I don't know much about it honestly. This all happened yesterday, I've been on the run ever since."
"Why did you come here?" one of the sisters asked.
"Would you look for a Jedi here?" Denley replied.
"You shouldn't have come here," the spear sister said, "You people are trouble, I won't let you hurt anyone else."
"The other Jedi told me about this planet being home to the witches." Denley said, "They told me to stay away from them, they said they were users of the dark side, evil, cunning creatures. But something tells me they were just afraid that the witches were more experimental with the force, not bound by the Jedi way, I think perhaps it was a stubborn thing on their part. I wanted to find out for myself."
With that, Denley got the courage to turn his head to the sister who held his life in her hands. She seemed to respect his boldness, and pulled the spear a bit further back, giving him room to breathe.
"You belong to this race of witches, do you not?" Denley asked.
"We do." she answered.
"Teach me your ways, please." Denley requested, "My master is dead. I'm just a Padawan, I have so much more to learn, and nobody to teach me."
The sisters looked around at each other, all without a word, yet appearing to understand one another silently. It didn't take them long to reach a conclusion.
"No." the spear sister said, "You belong to us now."
"What does that mean?" Denley asked.
The other sisters moved quickly to restrain the defenseless Jedi, binding his hands together very tightly with unnerving speed and accuracy. One of them formed a leash and tied it around Denley's neck like a dog's collar, and bound it to the restraints on his hands. The pattern in these ties seemed intricate, even with the force at his side, it would be quite difficult to break free. He tried to focus on one of the knots, but received a harsh slap in the face before he could make any progress.
"You try to use your powers on your restraints again," the spear sister said, "And I will put you down."
"It was worth a shot." Denley joked.
"Come." another sister said as she tugged on his leash and led the way.
It was humiliating, being led around like some animal. He could feel their glares on him as they made their way through some obscure path in the jungle, very well hidden from the casual observer. His legs didn't seem to want to continue, but with a few pushes from the girls and tugs from the lead warrior, it was impossible to stop without pissing them off, which was something he wasn't eager to do in his position.
"Do you ladies have any water?" Denley asked, "It's been-"
Without warning, the spear sister spun around to face Denley and smacked him across the face with the blunt end of her spear, then raised the sharp end right to his eye as he regained his composure.
"You do not talk, Jedi..." she said sternly, "You belong to us now, we will give you food and water when you think you need it."
"Sister Kellt," the leash holding woman said, "We can't have him passing out on us before we get back home."
The spear woman, Kellt, seemed to reluctantly agree, sighing as she went through her tiny satchel and pulled out a canteen that appeared to be made out of animal skins. He handed it to Denley without looking him in the eye, as if to make her disdain even more obvious. He sipped from it as much as he could, it was lukewarm and gross, but it got the job done. He didn't manage to get a whole hell of a lot before it was snatched away.
"Don't get greedy." Kellt said as she put the canteen away, "Break's over, let's keep moving."
"Tika cares for this one," one of the other sisters teased, "She'll probably want him first."
"Stop." the leash holding girl, Tika, said as she blushed.
Denley knew better than to voice his question out loud. Kellt noticed this and smiled.
"You learn your place fast, Jedi..." she said, "As we said, you belong to us now, and our tribe is in need of men. We need to continue the bloodline if our people are to survive."
"We've never mated with a Jedi before." one of the sisters said.
"Wonder what kind of offspring he would offer us." another sister wondered out loud.
Was he going to have any say in this? Maybe coming here wasn't such a good idea after all. Before too long, the group pushed through one last piece of foliage and came to a clearing where the witches had made their home. A cluster of huts dotted on a ledge that overlooked the jungle canopy below, it appeared they were higher up than Denley had previously thought. There were dozens of these huts, it looked like each one was meant to hold three or four folks in it, and they formed a semi circle around the ledge, with a few rows going back, some elevated on raised earth or stilts.
There were a lot of villagers here, a wide variety of faces young and old. Some were of the warrior type, tough and heavily armored, but some appeared to have different roles in this camp, caring for children or working on the structural integrity of the huts. One thing though, was that all of the men were certainly in a similar predicament to Denley, forced into servitude, none of them looked very happy to be where they were. There weren't many of them, he could only see two walking about under close guard, and there was one tied up in a shack.
"Welcome home." Kellt said, "You may speak your questions if you wish."
"What do your men do in this camp?" Denley asked, "Aside from being used for reproducing."
"Menial tasks mostly," another sister answered, "Cleaning, washing clothes, tending livestock, and we sometimes trade them for valuables."
"I see..." Denley said, "So they're slaves."
"You do not come to our world and judge our ways, Jedi." Kellt scolded, "You want to learn our ways? This is it. Come, we'll get you settled in."
These witches appeared to be simple villagers to the untrained eye, a common sight on other worlds. They were, however, very strong with the Force, all connected with some kind of neutral alignment, despite their savage ways. It was interesting to say the least. Some appeared to guide the growth of plants by using the Force, some recited prayers in small groups to invoke some kind of mystical power, and some of the children even played using a very limited form of levitation to pass a ball around. There didn't appear to be any masters here, not plural at least, just people in a deep connection with the Force and with nature.
As he was led further into the camp, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was just around the corner, something with ill intent. He stopped and tried to focus on whatever this entity was. The witches didn't appear to like this very much, as they spun around, weapons ready. Now he had the attention of all, as they stared at him with curious and confused looks.
"Keep. Moving." Kellt said as she pointed her spear at Denley's face.
"Something's coming." Denley said, "Wait, there's more than one."
"Is this some kind of Jedi trick?" one of the sisters asked.
"No, shut up and keep your eyes open," Denley said, "I think we're about to be in trouble."
"Somebody's about to be in trouble..." Kellt warned.
"No seriously, SHIT LOOK OUT!" Denley shouted.
None of the sisters took the foreign Jedi seriously, not until a spear struck one of the sisters in the neck, killing her instantly. Even as her blood sprayed through the air and her corpse hit the ground, it still didn't feel real, but it was, and he knew it. People began screaming as a group of hostile witches jumped through the jungle canopy ahead and began rushing at the camp, tossing spears and rocks as they sprinted, cackling in horrible voices all the while.
Some put up a fight, and were successful in taking down one or two of these attackers, but most were caught off guard and unprepared, being cut down by spears and burned by lightning shot from the fingers from these psychotic witches. Denley couldn't believe he was going to have to pick a side in this, considering he'd just been enslaved and all, but it was either that or die a horrible death.
Denley turned to Sister Kellt, and after winking at her, pulled on the leash as hard as he could, forcing her to tumble towards him, allowing him to kick her directly in the stomach. She gasped in shock and pain, allowing him to kick her legs from out underneath her, dropping her to the ground in a heap, where he finished the deal by stomping on her face, knocking her unconscious and freeing him for the moment.
One problem amongst the rest, he didn't know which of the sisters had his lightsaber, and with the attackers getting ever closer, he came to realize he'd have to rely on other means in order to survive. Taking up Kellt's spear, Denley charged at the nearest witch, who seemed to be taken aback that a male was challenging her in combat. Her face was painted pale white, and the black makeup around her eyes appeared to make them more sunken in, it was kind of creepy, probably the intention. The two clashed weapons, and although this one was well rehearsed in combat, her bloodlust opened up her attack to plenty of counters.
With each one of her strikes, Denley was able to block and then get in two good smacks with the spear, but she didn't appear to be letting up. He sighed as he realized she wasn't going to relent until she was dead. Accepting this, he batted her spear aside in one hard swipe, then jabbed the sharp end of his spear right through her throat, blood gushing all over his weapon as he tore the weapon free and let her collapse to bleed out.
Two more witches, now furious that a man killed their sister, joined in the fight, shrieking blood curdling screams as they battled their first Jedi. It was difficult, but not impossible, finding easy openings in their offense. Kicking one of their knees out allowed him to focus on the other sister, who he used the blunt end of his spear to crack against the side of her head, killing her too. Before the other sister could retaliate, he tightened the Force around her windpipe and crushed it in a moment, killing her as well. By now, the attacking witches had stopped their assault on the village and were now fixated on Denley. Two more rushed at him, thinking they could avenge their fallen sisters.
"I don't want to kill any more of you people!" Denley shouted, "Take your fallen and leave in peace!"
"NEVER!" one of the fighters screamed.
One of the sisters unleashed bolts of lightning at Denley, who wasn't able to react in time to repel them. Electricity violently coursed through his body, it felt like hundreds of daggers shooting through his veins and bones, and he knew he was vulnerable now. Pushing with all of his might, he called upon the Force with what he had and launched the two sisters, along with another one close by, several feet away, where they slammed hard onto the ground. Denley gasped for breath and tried hard to fight back the anger that was boiling inside him.
Instead of unleashing something fatal, he lifted massive amounts of sand from the ground and formed a miniature sandstorm that surrounded them in every direction and pelted them with heavy and painful chunks of sand. They tried to push their way through it, but he was stronger, thickening those parts of the storm and sending the grains of sand harder at them, he knew it had to hurt, and he could hear them screaming in agony, begging for mercy. He kind of liked it, it felt powerful, getting back at them for what they'd done, but before he could truly enjoy it, he felt sick to his stomach, knowing he had taken pleasure in tormenting these people. He decided they'd had enough, but wasn't going to just let them out so they could continue their attack, so he slammed the remaining sand down onto them, knocking all three of them out cold.
The young Jedi looked around and saw that he really did have everyone else's attention, even the hostile witches, who were standing idly by in horror and fear at what they'd just witnessed. The other sisters, the ones who'd taken him hostage earlier, seemed hesitant to put him back in their custody.
"Sisters from another tribe," Denley said, happy to have the spotlight, "I didn't want to kill three of your people but you gave me no choice. Be grateful it was just three. Take your dead and your wounded back to your home, and do not return, or you will not be given the option to leave in peace."
The hostile witches seemed to be confused at taking orders from this man, even though he had shown his power and mercy. It frustrated him a bit. He turned to the nearest of them and used the end of his leash as a whip, swiping it hard through the air and cracking against her skin numerous times as she cowered in pain.
"I SAID GO, GODDAMMIT!" he screamed, "GO, GET OUT OF HERE, YOU THINK I'M PLAYING AROUND?!"
With that, the survivors of the hostile tribe gathered up the dead and wounded and hurried back into the jungle where they came from. With that, he still had this village to deal with, so he continued.
"Now, you..." Denley started, "I could have left you bitches to die, but I didn't, because I was telling the truth earlier. I came to this planet for knowledge. You people have a connection with the Force that I want to understand. I ask that you treat me, and the other men of this tribe, as equals. If you do, I will protect your tribe like I did just now. If you can't do that, then best of luck to you, I'll be on my way, but I'm sure as hell not going to be your sex slave. What'll it be?"
With Kellt still unconscious from her ass beating earlier, the other sisters looked to the next eldest warrior for approval. It was the one who had shown him compassion earlier, Tika. She approached Denley and extended her hand for a handshake.
"I can speak with the elders later, but I will plead your case to make sure that you are one of us now," she said with a smile, "Thank you for your help. Maybe you Jedi aren't all so bad. What's your name?"
"Denley Kane." he answered, accepting her handshake.