That night the Jedi and clone commanders, along with the high-ranking officers of the Fire Nation Army held a banquet in the main house. All the village leaders and elders were there too to celebrate while outside clones and Fire Nation soldiers celebrated in lively parties. The clones really liked the parties and so didn't hesitate to join. In the main building the party was well under way. Elementian music was playing while the guests ate Fire Nation cuisine.

"Taran, what is this?" said Anakin.

"That's roasted sea slug," said Taran showing him the source of the food Anakin was about to place in his mouth. Anakin thought better of it and decided not to eat it.

"And what are these little flakes called?" said Obi-Wan, holding up a bag that was steaming with little flakes in them.

"Thoses are fire flakes. They're extremely hot so wait for them to cool down," said Taran.

"Thanks," said Obi-Wan. He decided to save the fire flakes for later and went to eating some komodo sausages.

"Are all the foods in the Fire Nation hot?" said Ahsoka.

"Yes. They wouldn't call it the Fire Nation if it wasn't," said Taran.

"Good point," said Ahsoka. As they sat and ate and conversed, Admrial Jung stood up and declared a toast.

"To the sons and daughters of the Fire Nation, who gave their lives to defend the homeland. and also to our allies from the Republic, and the Avatar. Hail the victorious dead," he said.

"Hail!" chorused everyone in the room. They drank from their glass and sat back down.

"Admiral. There was something you wanted to tell us about Mt. Roku?" said Obi-Wan.

"Ah, yes. I will tell you the story of the mountain, along with the village elder Laot-zi," said Jung. Everyone hushed to hear the tale.

"Back in the days when the world was first forming, there was an ancient evil. It's name was Kong Ju. It was as evil as evil could be, her many legs spreading chaos, dread, and worst of all fear. It took over the world and made her children the enslavers of all creatures," said Jung.

"What happened to it?" said Anakin.

"A coalition of mysterious deities took on the forces of Kong Ju and imprisoned her in that mountain," said Jung.

"Where it still lives to this day, haunting the many winding tunnels," said a village elder.

"Are you sure this isn't some sort of story you tell to frighten children?" said Ahsoka.

"The story is true. Many years ago, a little girl, my youngest daughter, ventured into the mountain. After that she never returned, but when we went to the mountain to find her, we saw a shred of her clothing near the entrance to the mountain. We knew at once that Kong Ju had taken her and eaten her, flesh and whole," said the old man, his eyes glistening with tears.

"Are you sure. She could have gotten lost in there?" said Obi-Wan.

"I take it not all Jedi are into legends and such," said Jung.

"Not in the slightest. You should have seen what happened when we tampered with a Sith tomb when someone didn't believe the legend either. We all know what happened after that," said Taran, referring to the incident when he was possessed.

"Taran, I didn't mean too," said Anakin.

"All I'm saying is we shouldn't judge legends to quickly. Besides, we can't know for sure if it exists or not," said Taran. At that moment a piercing shriek echoed over the island. It was a combination of a shriek, yell, and a banshee-like scream. It made the hair on everyone's hair raise up, and it seemed to come from the mountain. The village elders covered their faces, the adult men and women held onto their children, and Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Taran stood up and ignited their lightsabers. The light in the buildings and surrounding ones went out.

"What....was...that?" said Taran, now believing in the legend.

"Kong Ju," said the old man. Once the scream had died away, everyone clamed down and the lights came back to life again.

"The monster stirs. It has been disturbed," he said.

"That could have been the wind in the tunnels of the mountain," said Obi-Wan.

"Must have been one hard wind," said Ahsoka.

"It's the monster. I'm sure of it," said Jung.

"What shape does this so called creature take?" said Anakin. The old man dimmed the lights until one of them shone on the wall like the light of a spotlight. Then the village elder entwined his hands together and put it in front of the light like a shadow puppet. To everyone's horror, it took on the shape of a spider with many long, hairy legs all moveing together. Ahsoka felt a wave of fear go through Taran.

"Taran, what's wrong?" she asked.

"You remember that time when the lights went out at the Temple?" said Taran.

"Yes," she replied.


(Flashback)

A ten year old Taran and Ahsoka were having a mock lightsaber fight, along with pairs of other younglings. Their instructor, Master Yoda, was watching with a keen eye the budding talent of these young pupils.

"Younglings, open your mind. See the attacks of your opponent you must," said Yoda. Taran and Ahsoka were the only two whose lightsaber skills surpassed everyone elses and it was their attacks that Yoda saw the most out of. He calmly walked over to see their little duel to supervise.

"Taran, less aggression and more agility. Ahsoka, let the attacks flow like the waters of a great river," he said.

"Yes Master," they said, never taking their eyes off each other as they battled. At that moment the lights in the room went out, and all over the Temple.

"Younglings, panic not. The power will resume in a moment. For now, let your fear wash away," said Yoda. As everyone waited patiently for the lights to come back on, they heard a scuttling noise. Everyone looked around for the source, but not enough light was shed. They could that they were not alone in the room. Taran could feel something moving around him.

"Ahsoka, I feel there's something close to me," said Taran. Ahsoka turned on her lightsaber to put some light in the room. To everyone's horror, a large purella spider was right next to him. The spider was one meter in body and could stand up to meters when it extended all eight of its' legs up. It's eyes glowed orange with some kind of inner darkness, and it's body was all red, except for it's black, hairy-bristled legs. Yellow saliva dripped from it's mouth filled with large, sharp teeth and four pincers were spread out menacingly to Taran. It stared down at Taran, it's head coming ever closer to his.

Taran knew that if he moved then he would be easy prey. If the purella couldn't eat him, he knew it's venom would kill him in no time. The other younglings made know move while Yoda brandished out his lightsaber and moved under the cover of darkness, though the spider did not see him. The purella clicked it's pincers close to Taran's face, hoping to scare him. Taran did not, though he was trembling from fear as the purella got ever closer. He had never been so scared in his life up to that point, but this thing was coming at him and all he could was to try and stay as motionless as possible. Ahsoka tried to make a move against it, but she remembered her lightsaber was low-powered and it would do nothing but burn the purella, not kill it. The spider made a snap at her, but instantly fixed it's gaze back at Taran.

"Taran, don't move," she whispered to him.

"Trying not to," he whispered back, his lips the only thing slightly moving. The purella was now so close he could see down it's throat. All there was was a black gullet that seemed to be inviting him in. Ahsoka could feel the fear that Taran was sending off in waves down his body. She knew he wasn't afraid of most things, but the purella was becoming something that would solidify into his worst one yet.

At the last moment, when the purella was about to pounce, a bar of green energy went through it's neck, slicing it's head off. The head bounced away to the far side of the room while the body shook itself, ran in a circle, and then slumped to the ground. Yoda stood over, eyeing the decapitated creature with discontent. Taran let out a long sigh, his heart nearly beating out of his chest. He would have broken down right then and there, but he sucked in a breath that stopped it. He knew now what his worst fear was.


"You don't think that that thing is real?" said Ahsoka.

"I don't know, but whatever that sound was it was definitely not wind vibrating through tunnels. Something's in there," said Taran. "And whatever it is, it's not happy."

Outside the building, two clones were patrolling near the foot of the mountain.

"Did you hear that scream just a few minutes ago Rivet?" said a clone.

"Yes, that scared the hell out of me Hunter," said Rivet.

"Wonder what it was?" said Hunter.

"Whatever it was, I don't want to find out?" said Hunter. The clones walked around around the mountain, finally stopping at the entrance of what looked like a tunnel.

"Hold on. I need to fix one of my greaves," said Hunter. "It's killing me."

"Okay, but make it fast. I don't like being near this place. It gives me the creeps. The Fire boys don't like it for some superstitious reason," said Rivet.

"Alright," said Hunter. Hunter sat near the entrance to fix the greave of his right leg, busily trying to fix it. He kept at it for two minutes.

"Hunter, let's go now," said Rivet.

"Almost done," said Hunter. But he didn't have time to finish. At that instant, four legs shout ot from the entrance of the tunnel and seized Hunter in it's clutched. Hunter screamed when he felt himself get lifted into the air.

Rivet pulled out his gun and shot at the legs, careful not to hit Hunter. One of the legs was shot, but it made it look like nothing had happened, except for an angry kind of screech. Hunter was pulled into the tunnel, screaming.

"Hunter!" yelled Rivet. He was about to rush in there to get his friend, but a leg knocked him back. Landing on the ground, Rivet looked to see two clusters of yellow orbs looking straight at him, unblinking. The orbs went away, along with Hunter yelling for help. Rivet couldn't believe his eyes. He picked up his gun and ran towards the village.


"All I'm saying is that there is no way that there's an ancient monster in that mountain," said Anakin.

"And we're saying that something is in there," said Jung. The lights had come back on all the way after the old man had finished his little shadow puppet. Now the only source of noise was between Anakin, Jung, and the old man, who was murmuring over and over that the monster was coming. Obi-Wan, Taran, Ahsoka, and everyone else watched the verbal fight.

"Whatever it is, it probably couldn't be that," said Anakin.

"General Skywalker, this so called legend is a fact. The people of this village have lived in fear of this creature since they settled here," said Jung.

"Well until I get some proof, I'm not buying into this," he said defiantly. At that moment, Rivet ran into the room. Once inside he took off his helmet and bended over to catch his breath.

"Rivet, what's wrong?" asked Taran, the four Jedi coming to him.

"Me and Hunter were patrolling around the mountain. He went near the entrance of a tunnel to fix his greave," he said fast before he took more deep breaths. Taran saw a fearful face appear.

"Then what?" said Obi-Wan.

"Then...," said Rivet, but then he shivered.

"Rivet. Calmly tell us what happened?" Anakin said assuringly.

Rivet took another deep breath before he talked. "Something with hairy legs and yellow, shining eyes seized him and took him away in there." The villagers and the Fire Nation soldiers tensed up. If the monster was hunting outside the mountain, then that meant that it would start coming out for them next. Even the Jedi felt a cold chill run down their backs.