CHAPTER II
Death's Shadow
The Jedi had taken a small vessel instead of the usual Republican ship so their presence would not draw attention. The trip had taken much longer then expected. Unlike the last time, Anakin felt like they would never arrive. Patience had never been one of his qualities even as a Jedi Master. Of course, his conversation with Garen the night before had added extra tension. A simple bow was all he had received when the Knight entered the ship and had stayed silent since. But still, he was very calm. He stayed seated for most of the trip, either reading or meditating.
Garen was much wiser then Anakin and had much more experience as a Jedi, so why was it that he was never invited to take a seat on the Council? The question had always bothered Anakin but so was the ghastly silence in the ship. Tired of the uncomfortable tension, the young Jedi Master slowly sat next to the older Knight.
"Garen?"
"Mm-hmm?"
"I'm sorry for what I said yesterday." Garen lifted his eyes from his book.
"No need for apologies." Garen placed a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "When you are ready to talk about him to me, I'll be there. Just remember that the one's we love are never truly gone. They are part of the Force; they are around us, they watch over us." A beeping noise resounded in the ship.
"We're approaching Tatooine." Glad to have Garen with him on this mission, Master Skywalker looked out the window, watching the desert planet approaching into view.
Within the legacy left behind by Anakin's former master, was the devotion to the Jedi Code. No other Jedi had been as pure or in perfect harmony with his or her surroundings. Something he eventually passed down to Anakin. Though it took the lost of the elder Jedi to make the young, rebellious Knight finally walk the true path of the Jedi, one of sacrifice and devotion. Finally, young Skywalker had freed himself from all attachment and fear. He had become the Jedi Master many only dream to be and next in line to succeed High Master Yoda. Anakin Skywalker had gained ultimate trust within the Council.
"Anakin…" Garen gently placed a hand on the Master's shoulder. "Anakin?" Anakin turned towards Garen. Another thing passed down to him by his former master; his tendency to slip in and out of meditation. He would slip away within himself, thinking about the various missions or problems the Council needed to solve. Sometimes just to get away from it all.
"What is it?"
"A message from Coruscant."
"…Your first task is to locate and make contact with Ruvaa Tsirak. Once you have done this, please report to the Council. Ruvaa Tsirak did contact us saying he found Asajj Ventress but he refused to give his own location." Master Windu said on the blue hologram image. "This Bounty Hunter Assassin wants to see if the Jedi we sent are worthy. If you can find him, you will have gained his respect."
"So he's playing with us? We do not have time for such childishness!" Anakin said furiously.
"Maybe not, but if this is what we need to finally bring Ventress to justice then so be it." Mace paused. "The Council has faith, may the Force be with you both." The hologram faded.
"This is insanity." Anakin stood from his seat, pacing back and forth.
"I agree. Something's not right."
"I can sense it too." Anakin looked out one of the ship's windows and onto the sandy streets of Mos Eisley.
"It's your call, Anakin. But I need to voice what I sense; something in the Force is screaming at us to go back." Garen watched Anakin breathe in.
"We will continue our investigation. We will seek out this Ruvaa Tsirak as the Council has requested, but if anything starts to feel off in any way, we pack up and leave immediately." Garen nodded. The Jedi started on their mission, but not before slipping into more convenient clothing. A memory pushed within Anakin's mind as he looked down at his clothes. It reminded him of his first meeting with Qui-Gon Jinn.
"Where should we start?" Garen asked. More memories kept rolling in Anakin's mind. He remembered his mother telling him to keep away from the cantina; it was filled with the most dangerous and cruel people in the Outer Rim. It was the perfect place to start.
"We can start at the cantina." The older Jedi nodded and they heading outside of the ship in the search for Chalmun's Cantina.
The dusty air and boiling sun seemed to bring Anakin back in his childhood. Then he started thinking about Watto, the Toydarian who had him as a slave when he was merely nine years old. He thought back to all the space pilots who talked about their missions and of how much he dreamed about exploring the Universe. When Anakin turned to look at the little blue and silver astro droid rolling next to him, Anakin remembered something else from his youth; hearing people talk about how droids were forbidden entry in the cantina, mainly because it's owner, Chalmun, despises droids.
"Sorry, Artoo. You need to go back to the ship. People there don't like droids and we don't want to draw attention on ourselves." The little astro droid beeped sadly.
"Here, take this." Garen tossed a com-link to Artoo. "Contact us if we receive a message from home." R2-D2 gave out a series of little bleeps and short whistles and started rolling back inside the ship. Garen then turned to Anakin. "Do you know where the cantina is located?"
"If I remember correctly, it's just before where the street splits into Kerner Plaza and Inner Curved Street." Garen followed his superior as they pushed pass salesmen and the chaos caused by a dispute between two Jawas. Thankfully, the station where they had landed their ship was only two blocks away from the cantina. The exterior was just as Anakin remembered as a child; dark, loud and dirty. "Here we are; 3112 Outer Kerner Way." The interior was just as filthy and creepy as the exterior. Just as the pilots from when he was a kid had said, a Fabritech EPT-212 scanned them as they walked in. This particular scanner was searching for frequencies emitted by droids.
"You were right about leaving Artoo with the ship." Garen said in almost a whisper. "We don't even have a description of this guy, how are we going to find him?"
"Let me deal with that." Anakin walked towards the bar and gesture the barman to come closer. Garen made his way to a nearby table as Anakin whispered something to the barman and slipped him what that looked like money. After a few minutes, Anakin returned to sit next to Garen.
"Well? What did the barman say?"
"He said that only one person could give us information about Tsirak, no questions asked." Anakin paused and looked over Garen's shoulder. "Jasper." Anakin nodded in the direction of the left corner of the cantina. Garen turned and saw a man sitting alone in the shadows, only the smoke and fire from his pipe were visible. "Come." Anakin slowly stood and, followed by Garen, walked to Jasper's table. "Jasper?" The man didn't say a word. Instead he lifted his head to look at the Jedi. With his face in the light, the Jedi saw the visage of an old man, possibly a space pirate, with messed up grey hair and dark-brown eyes.
"Aye?" Jasper exhaled bluish smoke.
"We would like to speak with you about something."
"Then sit mate, don't be standin' there all day." Anakin and Garen each pulled themselves a chair. "What is it you want to know?" Garen looked over at Anakin.
"We were told that you could give us some information, no questions asked." Anakin whispered quietly, not wanting to draw attention. "Information about Ruvaa Tsirak…" Garen watched as Jasper's eyes widened and a smile pulled at the corner of his dry, chapped lips.
"Ah… ye seek Death's Shadow me thinks." The old man whispered in return, pointing his pipe at the two men sitting with him.
"Who?" The Jedi both asked in unison. The pirate coughed on the smoke of his pipe.
"You haven't heard of Death's Shadow?"
"No, we've only heard of him under the name Ruvaa Tsirak." Garen answered, looking over at Anakin.
"Ye aren't from these parts I bet ya." Jasper chuckled. He took another puff of his pipe. "Death's Shadow is what we all call him, mate. A cursed man he is. No men from here dare speak his name."
"Why?" Anakin leaned in closer.
"Men fear him more then they fear death itself. To look upon this man is to look inside the devil. I have been spared many a dangers but none I have been more grateful as to have been spared by him."
"So you've seen him?" Garen wondered.
"Aye, I have mate…" Jasper took a drink from his bottle on the table.
"Why did he spare you?" Anakin asked quietly. Garen could easily see his friend's fascination.
"Death's Shadow only kills Bounty Hunters, mate. Unless you get in his way." The Jedi looked at each other before looking back at Jasper. "It was him, I tell ya. I looked upon his eye."
"His eye?" This peeked Anakin's curiosity even more.
"Aye, his eye." Jasper pointed to his own left eye. "He bares the mark of a cursed soul. A white eye."
"A white eye?" Jasper took yet another drag of his pipe and then leaned closer again and whispered.
"Ye see, it was said that Death's Shadow was cursed by evil itself. A long jagged scar runs across his left eye, blindin' that same eye, turnin' it was white as a ghost. Well once ye look into that eye, ya feel as though you will never be cheerful again, ya feel dead inside." A shudder passed through Jasper as he seemed to recall his face to face with the Bounty Hunter Assassin. "No, if I were ye, I'd go straight back from were ye came from. Ye don't want to go lookin' for this man, I can tell ya that." With a last chug of his drink, Jasper stood and headed towards the door.
"Wait." Jasper turned towards Anakin. "Were can we find him?"
"It'd be foolish, boy. Go home and forget about it." Both Jedi stood.
"We need to know." Garen pushed. Jasper stood quietly, looking from Anakin to Garen. He sighed loudly, shaking his head.
"You won't find him here, mate. And ye won't find him in the daylight either." Jasper inhaled from his pipe. "Though he deals mainly on Tatooine, ye just might find him on Korriban." Without another word, Jasper walked out of the cantina. The Jedi stared blankly at the door. Garen turned to Anakin.
"The cursed planet?" Garen asked. Anakin nodded slowly, staring at the door.
"The Sith sanctuary."
I hate writing when I'm in writers' block; this chapter took so long! I need to say that I love the character of Jasper, whom I invented by the way. Korriban is a real Star Wars planet and if you Google it, I'm sure you'll find a bunch of creepy descriptions and stuff. The information about the cantina is real info from the Star Wars Insider issue 91 (Jan. – Feb. 2007). HAPPY 30TH! If I take a while to update, I'm sorry. No Internet at my place so I have to find time to go at the library of annoy my buddy Mary (Luvs you by the way)!