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Rewrite on chapter 2 admittedly I wished for more of a backstory on how the heck does Yan Dooku knows Yavanna and her husband Yan-Quon. Also this chapter is a three parter for those of you who hate chapters like that, sorry. Also I tried to clean this chapter up but then lost all my progress when Fanfiction crashed. So your getting cleaned up retry number two.
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"Rage seldom is something that can be contained in a bottle without consequences. The emotions and reasons for its existence come hand in hand." Fae Coven, former Grandmaster of the Jedi Order
Chapter one- What lies below part I
On the other end of the galaxy in the unknown regions of space in the beta sector while the story of the Old Republic has long since ended another begins. The Old Republic will be remembered by its efforts to stop the Eternal Empire and Valkerion. Its scars are deep as stone and while those who lived through it may be gone the scars remain. As above a quaint town in a valley are ruins with the children running around the mossy ruins unbeknownst to them the old statue which was in the center of the ruins mossy but rather unchanged lasting longer than the ruins it is in without changing. The Eternal Emperor Lord Valkerion stood unyielding against time and erosion unlike the ruins surrounding it. The stern faced man in life refused to just die in statue form he looks out of place eternally waiting for something that will not come to pass, not now not ever again so they swore.
They failed.
As children laugh as they play hide and seek in the ruins of a building that in the past was a part of a brutal conflict which nearly consumed the galaxy over three thousand years past. In its glory days it was a spectacular building, one of beauty befitting the Eternal Empire as a protectorate state of Zakuul. Again a choice which wasn't a bad one as the people were provided for getting a stipend of fuel and money. The building, while once a small one compared to others under its belt was equally lovely in its heyday;however, nothing lasts forever. The building was just one of a series that was raided and what they found inside was too horrific to describe other than it involved the Rakghouls and other experiments that would curdle your blood. What's odd about the entire thing was that the children seemed to be blurring like they were running too fast or perhaps time was moving differently from the observers perspective.
A fallen Empire built on blood will not be denied faded from memory perhaps but never forgotten not fully at least.
The Eternal Alliance destroyed the facility after raiding it and the contents of the facility's lower levels were sealed away it was later be abandoned the darkness within brought to light and the evil gone at last. The relics within destroyed the last of the blood and certain evil wiped away from this land still for a blink in time it contained a lot of vileness which could count as its own sort of symbolic Darkside Nexis. All of this is no more almost seemingly washed away by cleansing rain from an alliance that has long ago disbanded its purpose served and mission complete to those who knew it fondly in those years, all that would remain over the centuries afterwards would gradually be taken over by nature. Eroded away or rotted away it makes little difference all would be consumed in time. As you can tell all that remains are stone ruins crumbling. Children unaware or perhaps they don't know all but one who freezes before the statue aged yet seemingly untouched by the efforts of time to make it yield to its power. A young girl with fair skin that shows a bit more of a red hue to it with light blue freckles almost bioluminescent just slightly. Her brows were marked by a light blue pigmentation which went up her forehead much like the markings of a Togruta. Her green eyes saw much but as she froze she must've seen something, her brown hair that moved like water rippling like it in the wind accented the sudden change in her expression.
That child was no child at all as the very image shifted and shattered revealing a comely woman whose curling brow markings formed a diamondbacks marking curious indeed. Her height went from childlike to her adult height almost like a vision 5'10 ½" not counting her twin curved horns coming from the crown of her head slightly curved like a halo. Looking as if the ivory was dipped in golden paint at the tips of each horn graceful and commanding narrower than a male of her species yet displayed no such emotion . An adult Zatharian who looked at the statue as if she herself has seen the terror he caused ignoring the sudden silence as the laughter of children stops. Sudden and frightening the silence was to her it was almost jarring as day turned to night instantly as the darkness yeilded to one a man who she noticed immediately a man cloaked in greys and blues a Shastavanen who had tormented her mother Lorai turning her into a mindless puppet trapping her inside her own head while he controlled her. The Shistavanen was only in appearance to be one his parents were notably of two seperate species hence the reason he was a powerful telepath and why his fur seemed to be purple in places. The Grey Order member broke every code the darksiders stand by and did so right under the Parliaments nose and fourty people paid the price for such brazen defiance.
Yet even amongst loss their is something among the broken pieces
She turns around and finds herself on a planet that was brutally hot and full of volcanoes with the roars of lava spewing out revealing two forms grown men fighting in the distance what she saw the one do and say even from a great distance away over the roar of a volcano would be something she would never speak of to anyone. At least that was her plan how quickly do plans change over time don't you agree? She's looking over a planet a moon to be precise overlooking and in orbit of NaJedha a planet with large crystal formations and pink oceans hiding a secret deep within its crystal formations perhaps keeping a secret from everyone? The desert moon was chilly due to its prolonged winter above it was a round object of imaginable power untested and almost radiated a certain power and wrath within its very confines. Someone within was all too eager to do something deadly as she watched in abject horror as large laser hit Jedha city splitting the moon in two, igniting the kyber crystals causing an actual reaction which proved to be quite explosive as a result she can only watch in abject horror. The force screams but its not quite the force no these were the screams of those on the planets surface reaching out and in their final desperate moments she felt undiluted agony and terror of their fates being determined by something so brutal. She could only watch as the moon could no longer take anymore and part of it broke in half the once stable moon was rendered uninhabitable in mere seconds as everything died you can try to cover that up all you want but she turned her head away at last and closed her eyes weeping for those who didn't make it.
The force remains silent yet even still shadows of the past beyond you are making themselves known a certain evil awaits you waiting to devour you in its waiting jaws.
Suddenly as she regains herself she realizes something she's not in a ship she recognizes immediately the grey halls are very reminiscent of Imperial design one that hasn't been directly seen by the Republic but she doesn't live in the Republic. Seeing such ships based on designs unseen by the Republic and improving upon Eternal Empire designs which were the basis of much of their later ships out here. Still a certain something spurred her to run down the halls as the entire ship seemed to shake from impacts of stellar battles what drove her onwards was her following the abilities she possessed which allowed her to find people or perhaps what she needed to find. Even as the light flickered on and off menacingly turning the silvery halls a menacing yellow or red as the backup lights came on some just didn't stay on the force drove her to a door
"Come on you bastard!" She snarls her voice a growling rasp fear evident in her voice as she pounds on the door. Which opens suddenly revealing someone within a person within a hyperbaric chamber someone who was deeply effected by his own poor choices in life. She could tell that much his own lack of limbs all four of them were cut off quadriplegic he had the same sort of feeling in the force that her mother did. She couldn't describe the feeling as she felt the force not with her head no her heart the depths of the force could tell you much if you bothered to delve into it like diving into a deep pool of water yet being able to breath inside of the water and understand it. The depths of which she delved allowed her to feel that her mother was like this person despite the fact he was human. He didn't see her not really its strange but then again the level of hollowness suggested he was absolutely miserable. Depressed perhaps? Something about him seemed to be broken beyond his suit and artificial limbs and burnt hide the reason for him using such a chamber was confusing but surely it would come to her...eventually.
The force probed her menacingly demanding that she find her answers before its too late the force has always been pushy for her, being the child of one who was born to the Force tends to have that effect on you. Her mother had no physical sire and this caused much strain between her parents who loved her but her father figure saw her and didn't love her as much as he could have. He saw her as a mistake she should have been his biological child instead the force did its own thing and took that from him. She shook her head getting those nastier thoughts out of her head alongside her step-grandfathers malicious sneer as he overlooked her when she nearly died at age twelve from a hiking accident his horns glittering red as he stood in front of the sun his form looking like a being of pure shadow. Shuttering the image was forced away with her screaming at it to leave her right now shoving it in a box and throwing at the back of her head metaphorically.
Suddenly the figure and room vanished and she was transported elsewhere on the ship itself angered that she couldn't receive more information in her distraction it no longer mattered anymore. Her time with him was up and the force made that clear.
'You thought we were gone? You are a fool.' A dark rasp coming from nowhere yet everywhere Darth Malgus hoarse menacing growl is truly unmistakable.
"Come out child… I don't bite…" the hypnotic female voice said soothingly if you were to compare it to anything but silver it would not do it justice. The voice was likely that of Darth Traya a former Jedi Master from millennium ago who was cast out as a scapegoat a decision which the jedi order would come to dearly regret years later.
Truth is seldom clear and clarity will never be achieved not truly, our menace our lust for vengeance is never a reason or a means we merely are as darkness will always simply be. We cannot be purged from society not fully as long as darkness exists we will thrive. The truth is closer a lie spoken long ago unknown to the casual observer find the answers you must or hope might just die. Consumed by wrath the rare chosen may be stop this eventuality you must.
"Are you afraid? I believe you are." Another voice spoke a taunting soprano said to another her light whip with multiple tails ablaze with power. As she ran down a black tunnel hoping for something perhaps akin to answers
Blocked off coming to a dead end in the cargo bay she heard something activate behind her. The familiar snap hiss activation of a lightsaber followed by several more she turned and saw the golden blades intermixed with them was red, purple and black. But beyond this were the fact that she was in the ruins of something that didn't make sense like the Grey Order temple melded with the Jedi Temple in this moment she was made uneasy as she realized she didn't have her own lightsabers.
"Why would I be afraid?!" She demanded
"You should be." The female voice said menacingly revealing herself to be…
The vision vanished before her was the Jedi Grandmaster Awdrysta Pina the man bore an imposing figure he was aging but his face bore plenty of scars his eyes originally a stormy sea foam green were blazing red overtaken by a certain level of evil. His own overzealousness his own need to control the jedi led to his own choices to come his own alteration of the records even making a few truths disappear those who knew are dead by his own hand. He may have adhered to the rules of the jedi order but their was a reason why he was seldom planetside on Ossus mostly because he wasn't a pleasant man to be around daily wandering the galaxy his fury renown and his ability to spin a terrible lie about the Legions of Lettow to a young Republic allowing him to garner enough support to destroy what he deemed a threat to his own hold on power. Its not that he was chosen for his own ability to lead he had proven his leadership abilities no he was made grandmaster out of fear. He ruled the temple with fear when he did come "home" everything had to be to his liking something that was rather off-puting even controlling but at the time what choice did they have? This was a man who could use morichro which if used approperiately could be a powerful user with responsibility on how its used.
Pina wasn't a man known for kindness his face was marred not that he was handsome even in his youth his harshness bled through his appearance was hard his jawline spoke of a certain ire destined to break through. His eyes were daring her to strike against him as he bore his twin katanas glowing green due to the green crystals on its force-imbued hilt at the ready. As she flinced he shot forwards suddenly she realized that something about him wasn't right flashing to something else she watched in a sort of facination as he fought another opponent with blinding speed in a courtyard the other jedi especially the older jedi seemed to be wary even a few looked afraid. As she saw something akin to punishment …she looked on as she saw him as nothing more than a monster hiding in the dark she already knew this but never the full extent of what kind of corporal punishment he would give to jedi under him. Those who disobeyed werre punished horrifically some seemed to find such a punishment of fighting him armed with only a staff between his hands this was sadistic and demented. As she eventually lunged at her and struck true looking down as the blade peirced her blood spilling down it as he twisted causing greater agony she tasted blood on her teeth a death by a green blade.
He's not as dead as you would think.
Yavanna Patton's eyes opened revealing herself to be in her room inside her family's ship. The purple walls of the bulkhead painted, the plush throw rug on the floor, the various odd knicknacks she kept with her, the lights were off giving a lot of the various shapes a menacing look. The darkness wasn't enough of a terror for some you just had to add in the unknown evils hiding within it. Sitting up throwing off her blankets from the bed she wouldn't be able to sleep the rest of the night. Even if technically there is no literal 'night' in space itself.
Either way she figured that she might as well get up and the zatharian herself was in the late stages of her 'path' training in the Grey Order. Which basically meant she was still tied to a master who had yet to teach her everything that she needed to know. Unlike a typical jedi ceremony 'knighting' can only be done once they have faced themselves and others like them. Which means that a journey must be taken and it must be with the approval of the master because this journey is one they will make alone. To join the Ranks of the Path of the Wayfinders she must overcome adversity overcome her own issues in using her wayfinding abilities in large cities and crowds of people as well as keeping control over her own force. She's always had issues with losing control over her own abilities when she is rushing or panicking or having a panic attack.
It's not a vision quest either; this journey is based on what they will face and try to overcome. Likewise her fear of the Republic is quite pathetic really as she's never been there so her fear isn't entirely justified. Ironically she was sent to Coruscant and told to detail how the planet exists currently in this state, this is not how she wanted to overcome her fear but being dumped on the planet basically. Not to fend for herself but to gain full control to overcome her own handicap on finding her way around large cities which are unlike her home on Zathar which are a bit less honeycomb and a bit more environmentally conscientious than the politicians of the time before this planet had everything go extinct because of this planet being turned into a massive planetwide city. The city was layered and hard to navigate especially for her she didn't grow up in such a confusing city each level had its own districts the most dangerous being the Undercity proof that sometimes the lack of maintenance can lead to shoddy lighting, some parts of the Undercity are bathed in eternal darkness have no power or even running water. Their are limits to how much you are willing to push industrialization especially at the expense of others how are you going to police that? How are you going to stop a fire if it spreads out of control and you don't have enough manpower to put it out?
Severe issues with having a large city this big its harder and harder to maintain order and easier for police to become corrupt the lower the level they are on though the uninhabitable levels aren't spoken of and supposedly their are some flesh eating mutants near level 0. Which are astoundingly hard to kill some might call them zombies which isn't an incorrect terminology either considering they eat people, though some races are known to eat other sentient races as a sort of delicacy which she finds absolutely horrific. As she unpacked one might notice she lacks any real character for the various pieces of furniture dotting the apartment she had datapad's everywhere a slicing droid close by beeping its indignity of being packed up like a pile of clothes and left inside a moving box of all things. Like that's the worst thing he's been put through during their missions together.
'You have horrible taste in deciding to suddenly unpack me you fickle Zatharian!' He beeped frustrated the grey droid flailed around before huffing in the way only a droid could do and going to the adjoining guest room from the living room area which he declared as his. The slicing droid was a homemade droid that her mother made her for a particular mission their was only one like him and their would be no other like Fresas after him. He was rather pushy much like her mother used to be now not so much as she picked up a old holophoto frame showing images downloaded onto it in full color her mother and father was in the first one they were happy back then. Her parents would seperate later on after the incident after her father couldn't move past what his wife had done thus the devorce. Which meant now her mother really was at her lowest point. She wanted to stay behind and help her mother overcome everything her humiliation was bad enough having to face the order who basically raised her after her own mother lost whatever sense she had and tried selling her other children for drugs because of her worthless husband getting her addicted to them after the last child was born.
Amelith Patton deserved her fate as having her horns shorn showed the world her shame or more precisely ensured that she would never harm her daughter ever again Gregory her father did it himself enraged at her attempt to sell her own children. Doing such ensures that they cannot activate their natural telekinetic vectors ever again still even after all that being put into the Grey Order was a good thing. She would never turn on it her own kindness and gentleness would never allow it but with her mind being broken as it was emotionally she was a trainwreck after being freed by the Grandmaster Itcharian at a price of his own life to free her from being locked away inside her own head by a new brand of sith alchemy termed specifically forbidden mental arts yes they knew how to use it but to use it was wrong unless their was no other choice. He freed her but the cost was "too high" after all Grandmaster Itcharian raised her and when her new master took her on he was basically everything neither of her parents ended up being. The Lasat/wookiee hybrid was a powerful man belayed by his own sense of goodness and tolerance to be the reason he was gone broke her emotionally more than realizing what she did in her pain her four dragonic looking curved horns two main ones and two smaller ones they were rougher looking than the smaller two which were lower on her head near her ears the other were the main two and curved backwards like a drawn out s shape. In her dispair she ended up releasing her vectors without thinking and ended up cracking her right horn permanently damaging the channels within the horn itself.
Being given paid for in advance lodgings on the better sector in the upper middle district Mor'saritat apartments specifically 3456 block C. It's one thing being in a city it's another to be in ecumenopolis like this built on layer upon layer of lack of empathy for destruction of natural resources and the environment that people live in. First day she was here she decided one thing: I hate the skyline. Also she hates heights.
Over the next week she got up and dealt with Coruscanti people even gradually mingling at least until she got the hang of getting around or more precisely using her wayfinding to find particular objects on her mind and allowing the force to guide her steps to what she's looking for. Small steps but progress especially considering it allowed her to navigate easier at first she just tried finding a diner or a grocery store to refill her kitchen the works before long she would be able to find certain items the more comfortable she got with the "background noise" believe me their was a lot of it even if the street was abandoned she would always 'hear' it through the force. Its when she came across a familiar stench of azanti and a police do not cross hard light line blocking civilians from entering a certain area designated as a crime scene with five officers and three analysis droids scoping out the scene he neck stretching slightly as she tried to see what was going on beyond the foul smell of anzati that every self respecting Zatharian knew immediately. They may never cross one but better safe than sorry right which is why every zatharian is given classes in anzati identification specifically.
It would take some time but she would need to recenter herself in her apartment before she would be able to track them down with a level of brutal efficiency it is the duty of a zatharian to put down drugaddicted anzati as they were completely inedible to the anzat who ate the "soup of luck" its a terrifying thought why they would need those proboscis's. She knew deep down the reason they had them was truly too horrific to be anything they might teach in actual science class or xenobiology what they end up getting addicted to is cerebral fluid their proboscis's are drawn to the safest rout without permantly maiming and killing the victim immediately too quickly to harvest the cerebral fluid within. It also means that its good at locating where the cerebral fluid is being produced as it rarely just builds up in the brain "water on the brain"* being completely curable by this point in time still anymore detail in how this works makes her ill. Though it also means they are addicted to a bodily fluid which is quite fucked up to get much less harder to get to than blood might be like vampires except these people are the true monsters unlike vampires they are a force to be feared. Soon enough she started tracking down Anzati becoming successful as she followed the pathway the force gave her leading her through the city the quickest route.
Within an abandoned warehouse which was dimly lit by yellow bulbs above four anzati was four jedi padawans if their braids were anything to go by their was a Twi'lek female her skin was a pale blue, a ikkarian female darker olive skin she looked rather older probably nearly ready to be knighted herself she looked rather hypnotized due to the abilities of the anzati being very effective on jedi and force sensitive, the last of which was a white haired human male who was being shielded by a red mon calamari female wearing the jedi robe the sleeves were cut off violently likely trying to avoid being caught. Smarter than usual that one but being tied in force restraining cuffs didn't help them these lot were clever despite needing a fix sooner than later. Those who killed the force sensitive especially anzati gained more notoriety and became harder to take out perminantly.
She fingered her own sabers sneaking into the warehouse silently concealing herself through the force climbing up into the rafters durasteal beams above hiding in the shadows gracefully like a cat. The skills of a zatharian by very nature make the females more limber which made her sliding around slinking around with gracefulness above her three lightsabers on her belt one of them being a tonfa green with grey core her main favorite with two normal lightsabers the hilts just being two different colors one was blue and the other was silver the difference was in the blades the silver one had a ghostfire crystal which made it near translucent and silent when it activates
I need you to close your eyes. Yavvana spoke telepathically. Glancing between the four Anzati their proboscis drawn disgustingly from their cheek pouches making her internally give them a disgusted look.
Who— one of them spoke telepathically concerned and very female likely the mon calamari.
I am here to help but don't draw attention to me. she said. Internally groaning of course they would go after force sensitive padawan teens which makes their rescue all the more important.
Right now using the force to keep them from going any farther than she wanted them to unclipping the silver lightsaber she quickly steels herself shattering the lights within the warehouse the natural light fading as darkness was fast approaching and through the few places that natural light drifted in was few enough to allow her an an advantage as she had her chance after she killed the lights launching herself down activating the saber midjump aiming true.
She knew they might be reckless but to steal the padawans lightsabers was audacious even for anzati. With no training in how to use them granted someone who has had fencing or swordsmanship lessons might have an advantage above the rest but as far as she knew these men were not those lot. As they activated the lightsabers of the teens. The one closest to her lunged first the lightsaber was yellow she easily cracked the blade using her one hand before redirecting his blade to the left away from her. Absorbing the energy made the blade look like it was burning away in disruption its not a hard move just a unique application in itself of the simplest and most common uses of the force in existence.
Activating the other lightsaber of hers after putting away her silver hilted blade the blade was lavender with a burnt copper core an unusual coloration in itself as many people have noted. Its rather odd that she used to actually be pathetic at lightsaber combat she just never could wrap her head around it till her master came around and taught her your normal run of the mill swordsmanship which saw everything really click into place before they really switched back to lightsabers after she really gotten the hang of your training sword which wasn't the typical training lightsaber used either no he had her train with a wooden sword to get her trained in their use with actual swordsplay before they went back and started training again with the lightsaber. For some strange reason the method worked to help her understand how it worked.
The other three brought their lips into a snarl. It should be noted while they are nearly identical to humans they do have ridges around their nostrils which are main identifiers on their race. Again Anzati and her own kind never got along even less so considering they can't drink the "soup of luck" from them because they release a hormone which makes this taste terrible or in some cases: lethal. Let that sink in for a bit. This soup if you will is something that they need cheek pouch hidden proboscises which go up the nose and start drinking something... because the alternate cannot be mucus the only other option would be the cerebral fluid. It does circulate around the brain acting as a sort of cushion without it we would certainly die.
Quite disturbing to wonder why the hell they would have this specific adaptation when they can become addicted to the stuff simply put depending on what species they feed off of the effects can be quite different. Like a different flavor in a weird way it only adds to the fact that they see nearly everyone as food and a drug which like cocaine will kill them eventually. She glares at them a deep animalistic rumble deep in her chest making itself known. Like two vicious predators in the savanna one who sees the other as a menace to its continued survival and the other who sees it as a danger to those who are innocent. While the Anzat may think themselves top dog because of many people believing them to be myths told to younglings to get them to behave, they aren't there is one that they fear that could easily kill them that could turn the tables on everything they knew.
They moved like predators unaware that the tables have truly turned and now their so called prey wasn't on their mind she could finish this easily the closest one had the blue blade he hesitated a perfect opening. She cut off the arm holding the 'saber flipped over his shoulder and on the way down after correcting her position using the force itself she stabbed him in the before pulling the blade out in quick flourish as he felt his life flash before his conclusion his life wasn't worth much this final revelation meant nothing as he didn't go out kicking and screaming but with barely a whimper. The last two tried to escape only to find with a swift movement some durasteel rafters came crashing down upon the both of them due to using the force to quickly move her lightsaber to cut a piece off the one rafter and then use it to make them suffer. More precisely using the lightsaber and her own vectors at full power making them glow with excitement a green with a golden line in the side on each horn if they had gotten close they would have seen her sclera turn black turning the durasteel into shards as the metal groans and his as it seemed to do more than just break for some reason it heated up thanks to the precision cutting of her lightsaber. While the one was dragged back and had his neck snapped by the force the other found himself impaled by sharps of durasteel a fitting end for someone who fed on a child though it probably wasn't wise to kill him so violently in front of teenagers.
She went to the shaken teens and young adults all four of them one of which was human male who looked rather out of it due to being fed on recently. Handing the padawans who had their lightsabers nicked back after freeing them from their force binders. Her horns shifted to alarming orange out of concern for the one kid who was out of it after ensuring they were mostly okay she would help them get home.
"Lets get you guys home." She said after they managed to gather their composure. Agreeing as much as she helped them get home rather past their own curfew much to their own masters eternal worry and ire for some one in particular didn't want his padawan anywhere near a Zatharian she took it in stride. Those kinds of people exist everywhere in the galaxy.
"Yeah that would be for the best." the mon kala said solemnly. As they ventured back to the temple district not noticing the familiar chill that seemed pulse like a quasar from the temple and not the good kind. Its a ancient feeling that clawed at her like a ravenous beast unsettling her as she walked up the stairs escorting the jedi's own kith back to their homes. Entering the building was epic having her doing a circle taking in the sheer magnificence and that's just after the main doors. Eventually shaking off the wonder though she does take in all the sights with that mind of hers she was known as a wayfinder for a reason.
Its around this time she met Grandmaster Yoda unaware who he was. She noticed immediately he was ikkarian and a elder ikkari at that! She held out two fingers from her right and he did the same with his left in a greeting his ears erect in surprise.
'I welcome thee to my home.'
'Valora's gift will be cherished.' She returned in ikkiaris.
"Unusual it is to see your kind so far from home."
"I could say the same for you..." She said motioning in the air halfheartedly as he gave her his name.
"Yoda." He said solemnly introducing himself as bluntly as possible seemed to be good enough for them both.
"Yoda-chan its a pleasure to meet you,"
She turned to the young teens that she saved hours ago sometimes they needed to learn the hard way sometimes it can lead to much suffering.
"Don't go out after dark especially not to those levels again and if you do learn how to shield yourself to block force based suggestion even passive ones. Also never ever go under the temple something evil lurks there extremely evil."
"And you would know how?"
"Some people are more sensitive to the dead screams than others. I still see dead people force ghosts don't count."
"Come with me." Yoda motioned for her to walk with him down the halls which were absolutely gorgeous she could tell this building was loved. A lack of defacement, despite the laughing and screaming children the good kind of playful scream as the children were playing a game. What kind of game she couldn't tell but several older humans shook their heads at they're antics amused while a few spoil sports frowned.
"Uh sure, I have my own place in town…" She said awkwardly.
"Save them you did from a grisly fate." Yoda stated a matter of a factually cutting to the chase very easily.
"They ran afoul with a pack of four anzati." Yavanna explained all business her hands clasped behind her back. A habit she picked up from her master Ullr.
"Thank you." Yoda said deeply thankful that she intervened anzat can be quite insidiously dangerous especially to padawans who don't know the dangers and how to resist them.
"My name's Yavanna by the way."
A rare name even for humans nowadays it never really gained popularity of late either. He noted something else as well the five padawans while unscathed seemed shaken deeply. What he found curious was what she said about something evil being under the temple. Perhaps its because they are used to the temple's atmosphere and she isn't? Either way it is a rather strange yet dire warning.
Walking down a set of stairs as they headed to the level where the room of a thousand fountains was. However when she stopped before an old image carved into the stone when the temple was rebuilt millennium prior what it depicted wasn't something that anyone understood it didn't match with the theme but it was significant enough to restore it to the lake level specifically in wing C near the main sparring rooms. She was frozen before it, her green eyes frightened and glazed over.
Yoda realized then she wasn't following him anymore and stood shock still at the image which seemed to pull her in. What the image depicted was a ancient depiction of a ikkarian god which not even Yoda realized it then again its an original piece carved into very durable stone that during the sith empires destruction of the temple during the Sacking of Coruscant still stood unfazed.
The stone image if you looked into it depicted a figure who was obviously a god but suspiciously looked a lot like the idols of Nol'ryannos. Depicting an ancient bloodbath resulting in sacrifices as his followers seem to bathe in blood while the foes ancient humans wielding swords and whips while they look terrified as the monstrous bat swoops down carrying several corpses into the air. Truly a terrifying piece but jedi really doesn't see it as anything really, often overlooking the detailed yet positively ancient stone carving so intricate yet disturbing if you really looked at it.
"How long has this been here?" She asked suddenly her voice as stony as her face.
The question was sudden as he was tempted to shake her out her reverie before she spoke Yoda glanced at it sensing nothing from it. It was creepy and the force said what she was saying was important.
"Millennium since the temple was rebuilt after the Cold War." Yoda answered the suddenness of the question loosened his ability to speak in his people's typical basic dialect.
"And you never questioned why it was here?" She asked sharply.
"No, why?"
She recalled stories told of the Crusades thousands of years prior she wasn't exactly fond of that point in history since the Pius Dea Crusades as they were known was all based on prominent humanocentric xenophobic militaristic tenancies. In these times our kind withdrew deep into ourselves because of an event known as Grash'thorn Yrsath which roughly translated from middle Atraii means "Wars of Hell". Her species was involved deeply with the war which saw a majority of their Triple S classed warrior castes obliterated and the caste system was completely destroyed after the war ended. The cataclysm level event saw the planet Altraa devastated by a massive change in temperature on top of a sudden plague which saw their numbers rapidly drop from over a million to maybe 15,000 or more. While they were recovering a great devourer awoke from his slumber causing the people to flee the world entirely the war destroyed them totally. Even if technically they were just someone who got involved because they were caught in the crossfire. Lets just say it was all because the ikkarians and their larger subspecies got into a brutal war which clashed across the cosmos neither side gave.
Its known as the war of hell because the other side of the coin saw the rise of the cult affiliated with the evil god associated with blood, hatred, chaos and mutilation saw in a rise of its sects dedicated to basically murdering people to appease their god. These times saw the Republics influence grow but the cost was seeing cults like this work to fill the gap left by the hutts who were defeated by a means she doesn't really remember or care to know. That tidbit of information isn't important. But considering who else was depicted was the cults leader Xarth'kobbo drath'Zor. An ikkari who for his time was an influential man but for an ikkari was probably the equivalent of a aztec high priest and for him that wasn't a good thing. He was reknown for his battle prowess and campaigns across Altraa it wasn't uncommon for him to feed hearts of soldiers they captured to the Ikkari Baskalisk-dragon. It isn't depicted in the image thankfully but Ikkari consider the creature sacred while their subspecies just considered it a beast of burden like a horse. That difference alone can cause quite a bit of ideological differences which follows that theme much like the jedi who recused themselves entirely from the republic.
For those who joined the horrible sect became the jedi who would become the Order of the Terrible Glare hated and feared deeply by her race to the point of her irrational fear of the Republic being monsters who will seek to gobble her up. Its the horror stories of this order and their affiliation of the dimensional terrors known as Rozzum that was the main reason why an assault on their temple alongside aiding the people secretly leading to the collapse to the Pius Dea religious order. They could live far longer than humans so such covert operations and underhanded means weren't unusual. Admittedly the aftermath led to grandmaster Ductivis getting elected as supreme chancellor ending the reign of the Contispex lineage* unfortunately it made regional tensions palpable even to this day from midrim to outer rim.
Its then that our species cried out for his mercy Biel Dectavus would later personally come to Zathos the last colony we had which was spared during the War of Hell. Dectavus for our people was an immensely kind individual ending millennium long rule of a cruel dynasty and even helped our species rebuild. He is renowned for his immense kindness and for his death was mourned by all as he was the one who saved us. A statue in his likeness would be interred with the highest honors in the hall of Heroes in our capital Constantinople**.
Still the millennium long crusades saw a lot of chaos involved in this its said that the Ikkarians eventually would wipe out the cult of Nol'ryannos entirely calculated and viciously brutal they would destroy nearly every artifact in relation to the evil god for fear of inviting him back into their culture. Despite reaching the stars sometimes a generation can fix problems only for the next to make new ones terrible ones, which resulted in the cult itself. Currently worship of the cult is absolutely banned by Ikkarians and the Covenant which contains the subspecies of theirs whom she cannot recall their names other than the fact it's spelled differently. I suppose it's for the best as it's currently an unimportant detail.
"Do you know what it depicts?" She demanded her gaze be boring into the grandmaster; this was no test; this meant she wasn't playing games. Not anymore.
"A battle?" Yoda asked confused, he didn't attach significance off hand to the image yes it was weird and didn't fit at all but something told him she found it off.
"No. It depicts Xarth'kobbo drath'Zor the leader of the Cult of Nol'Ryannos and his followers. You said its been here since before you can remember this image alone dates back to the beginning of the Crusades."
When she mentioned Nol'Ryannos his face while usually a healthy green the blood drained from his face turning it a pale laurel green. True terror was plain on his face he likely had heard stories of what the cults did to unbelievers they sacrificed them and ate them. Which led to various legends of windigos in the Ikkari mythology afterwards to dissuade it from being a thing if I recall correctly a variation of the story was similar to the humans version of the windigo the only difference is spelling in native tongue while the stories are vaguely similar. An oddity to be sure likely adopted by their culture.
"Impossible."
There was real fear in the force around him for good reason. If there is something evil under the temple, well he would prefer an army of sith over an old cult which survived for centuries on fear and hatred.
Later that night after Yavanna left the temple heading back to her own apartment for the night. Yoda hid his emotions well but it couldn't hide his nervousness. Not many people know this but Girik Hathor (technically its spelled Hathor Girik due to clan names but that's not important) while he could be a loving man and was beloved by those who knew him as Shogun Girik, Yoda was his second eldest and knew him all too well. He was a taskmaster enforcing learning on all of his children as knowledge is power and in that political environment being force sensitive could prove to be a death sentence. In the tail end of feudalism you either survive through chance or you strive for better and merely getting involved wouldn't do.
As swords and slugshooters were still very common and would be until Emperor Zhao on a whim said otherwise. Typically they have no power except in politics but Zhao Zhihou Jiang was feared on both accounts. Under Emperor Zhao Zhihou Jiang many force sensitives were forced to become his personal entourage given the best training which was little more than indoctrination the only one to break this hold would be his own uncle Xeran.
His force sensitivity manifested at age fourteen which for his kind is nothing granted he was capable of walking and had long ago weaned off milk their race uses this time to mentally mature. Requiring perfect conditions to actually grow before age sixty to a preteen its not uncommon for these conditions to be met unintentionally as their species is very deeply connected to the land in more ways than one. Unfortunately this also means that 'bigger cousins' of his when they found out tried to kill him after burning a rare root which specifically affects the perception of force sensitives. The smoke is sickly sweet like cotton candy with a bitter undertone and creates a series of mild hallucinations though in a more potent form it creates red smoke. Thankfully they didn't have the brains to use anything but the wild form known as Celian's Dream noted for being related to a persuader plant which only grows in swamps, and having red and blue flowers with six petals shaped like daggers.
Unfortunately for them that's when his force abilities went out of control drawing on the living force and the force he had within he killed all three 'monsters'. He would later draw what he thought he saw when he was questioned by police with his parents being present. The girl was a evil humanoid spider with passing resemblance to a demonic yokai spider (possibly only vaguely) and empress of racnoss, the middle child was a bony creature with a elk skull and apparently looked like it was a giant recently disinterred corpse and seemed to be the most outwardly threatening, the last one was the scariest demonic looking with breath that seemed to glow a fish tail doglike and terrifying as its ribs glowed a toxic green through the fur its head was half dead and eyes terrifying.
Apparently this was the reason why alongside with them being discovered to have premeditated the entire thing only to find themselves killed through the force. The elder child's leader Azai was cut by the force, lashing at him like tiny spears before being force crushed and finally impaled on a nearby root sticking up into the air after being force thrown onto it. The girl tried to run but had her limbs ripped off before she was dispatched by a wild Korrhund. The last one was dispatched by one of the largest predators a armored Ztyg, a bearlike creature with four eyes no pupils with a broad eye ridge over each eye an armored scaled hide went down its long and deadly muzzle. If you were to describe it it would be like describing the ancient ancestor of wookiees meets armored bear noted for being not just an apex predator but omnivorous as well. Its suspected that the young Yoda called to it through the force to help him.
It's been centuries since he's even thought about that foolishness even more so would be what happened a decade later. While the emperor was growing more erratic even his followers started to question his growing insanity while his species may live long they aren't immune to losing it. Yoda in his younger days admitted to snapping more than once having spent his nearly entire adult life past ninety six as the grandmaster of the jedi order, though he'll never admit how far he went either because that is something he'll never tell or admit even to himself. Even so with tensions high after the end of the lannik occupation of his homeworld the entire political shtick was a powder keg ready to blow at any moment. It was out of fear of their heir being found out by the emperor during one of his moods that Yoda was taken to a cavern in his family's prefecture which held a tree of unspeakable terror.
To call it a tree wouldn't be a correct term either. Yoda can still recall being left in the dark with only the glowing mushrooms and slight beams of light from outside falling from the skylights in the cavern. The thing was barely a tree looking more like a set of terrifying organic bits spun and woven together like spines and flesh and all sorts of nasty bits that shouldn't even remotely be associated with a tree-like thing that would take things from you that you didn't realize that you had. The tree resembled one but was truly menacing in appearance and would haunt Yoda for years afterwards because he being a child at the time actually went close to it, something he would later regret. As it took something from him, something that he would recall bitterly: his ability to get close to people at all.
His father may have had his reasons but he never truly forgave Girik for what he did to his own second born and de facto heir because his older twin brother had no desire to rule or lead his clan. He had no head for it. Abornath was always a bit unsociable; he unintentionally insulted people and was a general asshole to anyone who interrupted his work (he became one of the greatest mechanics their clan ever produced). While Yoda chose this path leaving his homeworld with his friend Eric after his mother died the pain of the loss hit him hard and while it may have not hurt now it left a mark on him one which will never fade. Which led to them crashing on a swampy planet where the two were revealed to be force sensitive by system Lord N'kata Del Gormo a hysalren jedi master. He was an odd master often wielding a staff which held a large crystal at the top of it with no lightsaber to speak of at least visible to the two. Being a snake-like humanoid with four large eyes and four arms also meant that clothing was rather useless as his genitals were entirely internal as well so he only wore sparse levels of clothing and only ever to carry things or detonate protection.
Even so what Yavanna said was deeply concerning…but he couldn't have imagined what lied below was something far worse.
What none would know until it was too late that it wasn't just a sith shrine that lies under the temple the shrine itself is as old as the original foundations of the place but below it in the eastern quarter lies a far darker secret. Being plagued by terrible nightmares likely did more harm that good for Yoda considering the content was far darker than he normally would dream about still it was probably the weirdest version of a sex dream also the darkest. Something was right about what she said but as the force whispered hidden secrets which were lost to him in his panic, being half awake and 686 does not make you any less freaked out by something like that. It was like he was watching others of his race commit terrible sacrifices and then eat them he shuttered. He wanted to purge that replaying of that horrible dream which felt too real to just be a dream. It spoke deeply as they were burning things he knew what they were burning and it horrified him Valora was their chief creator goddess while he's never been exceptionally religious disavowing a goddess who helped shape his people and created trails which we will either pass or fail throughout life its ...unthinkable. Despite his visual lack of religion Valora only requires her creations to know of her; she isn't one that people are expected to devoutly follow nor is she the only one either. Having several gods and goddesses in their religion serving as the mysticalism found in the major religion on their planet, totemic is another if he recalled faintly still its been a while since he's been home for good reason.
He doesn't like the hero worship of the younger generation or his younger siblings throwing suitors at him being from one of the harshest countries on his planet being harsh because other than rice really no other crops really grow there in Zärgamīs. Its been so long since he's walked the halls of the Kaidon he grew up in in Hathor keep or walked the streets of Iora'staris. Really if one were to describe his home it would be like a strange mix of Alderdaan and Naboo with a harsh unforgiving landscape as the animals are unwilling to give up an inch of land to us.
Grandmaster was placing a lot of faith in the Zatharian known as Yavanna. He could tell she was far older than she looked, Zatharians aged similarly to his own except they grew far more rapidly. A trait which most mammals possessed his own race descended from a pseudo-reptile that had blurred the lines between reptile and mammal. It also is the reason why they are lukewarm blooded and have a set of ridges on their nose and forehead scutes unique to the individual. While their race has indeed been caught in between their wars between the subspecies and the ikkarians themselves.
Finding Yavanna wasn't hard as she left her comm number with the padawans who she saved. Karba himself would later go and retrieve her from her apartment after they called be frank Yavanna and Yaddle met that same day Yaddle herself never actually met a zatharian. And the last time Yoda did was when he was three hundred and seventy for any length of time. They tend to have a very strange effect on him more than usual that is.
"Oh! I didn't realize that you were there mistress." Yavanna switched to formality for reasons. Female Ikkarians can be rather complicated creatures best to be safe than sorry.
Yaddle was not surprised at all but she was more surprised by the species she never saw before. While yes zatharians are omnivores their slightly pointed flat teeth look more like something from teen wolf with horns which seemed to change color to her mood like a cuttlefish or a sort of chameleon. Right now her horns seemed to shift from an alarming ruby color to a cooler amber the slightly curved horns came from the crown of her head forming a sort of half halo.
The young female was noted for being exceptionally well loved by the order for her motherly kindness. Also she tended to sneak candy into the younglings pockets which made her a favorite of many younglings. What no one prepared her for was the mere presence of this zatharian female seemed to passively relax her unintentionally.
"My apologies, if I startled you."
"Fine it is, just surprised I was. Worries seemed to fade around with you here." Yaddle said trying to smooth things over despite it not being necessary though she didn't know that.
"My kinsmen have that effect on your species. I'm afraid I'll need to borrow you for a bit if that's alright?" She asked lightly, very polite to the jedi.
Being led to where the tunnels had collapsed by jedi temple guards where Yoda spoke to several people about the issue.
"You called for me master Yoda?"
"Yes. There is a cavern below which caused the section of maintenance tunnels to collapse." Another the Nautolan wearing an odd set of clothing compared to the rest of them...very tropical mostly because of the Hawaiian shirt and shorts. That nautolan was Master Karba who served as the incumbent Master of the Order the red and green looking Nautolan with purple eyes.
"Hmmmmm."
She used her seismic sense which just looked like her stomping around but she gathered enough information about the plae below to provide her with details about a corridor below.
"Why did you ask for me?"
"The force… told us to ask you for help."
She looked between the two her eyes shocked.
Maybe...I should tell mom? She's been alienated by our order because of what Darth Z—
"Very well."
The hours to come would haunt Yoda for a century.
*a lot of what the vectors can or can't do specifically is based on the fact that while the body can be fragile certain methods cannot work against it. Trying to describe the vectors as natural telekinetic powers which cannot be sensed in a typical way was hard. Thankfully its over likewise they are a tool which not everyone can use. Some xenobiologists who study sentient life forms suspect the horns shape have something to do with genetic disposition of the vectors strength.
* Glassing is orbital bombardment with super hot plasma or low orbit bombardment as it was during the Glassing of Vadovas Basin. The trees themselves started some deadly creatures appearing their is a old saying "Dnarga Tree's never appear as just one but soon spread to many and infect all they touch."
A hint of what the flood is in spirit also I might have been inspired by Dondi from the Isle idea of Strain plants though I assure you Dondi the author will not be doing what you were thinking of. Your's could qualify as trees; these ones cannot they are stuck in the inbetween zone between plant, animal and for some reason fungus. I'll spin it as well considering that these will torment our current cast on and off. I give full credit to you and your team of coders developing and hard at work animating and rewriting the code of my favorite early access game. Though in line with that this does something very different than what Dondi had in mind also looks far more disgusting.
Also we haven't had enough Yavanna enough to develop her fully same with her future husband Yan-Quon I wanted to explore this further.
Constantinople has been renamed repeatedly but much like the Earth city it was politically important for a very long time. And well I haven't figured if it still is officially its 178 BBY. So Yoda is 686 years old, technically considered venerable by his species standards. Yaddle herself is 331 years old, still young by their species standards; she's probably roughly in her early thirties to late twenties. Yoda still is a bit bitter about his father's actions its an old bitterness which has faded but left behind the scars.
Yoda: Speak of Girik's private life you should not, might not enjoy what is found instead.
Abornath: Say that now you do dear brother mine clearly your memory isn't what it used to be. Recall a time when granted power you were by ours didn't refuse it's dubious honor wasted on your likes.
Yoda: Require a refresher I do not Abornath.
Titania: Anyway! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and be ready for the next one!
My sister actually has water on the brain its called something specific and I really didn't want to spell the technical medical term.