SHGS - Chapter Six: Warrior of Sha Kalan
Disclaimer: I do not own, or profit, from Naruto , Star Wars, and all associated media.
A/N
"If you did not notice the chapter reorganization that has taken place I suggest you read the chapter before this one first."
- Darklighter
"Thoughts"
"Speech"
"Abnormal sentient thoughts"
"Abnormal sentient speech"
Three years later
Yanibar
Naruto was a whirlwind as he and his brethren leaped across the dunes on the wind's wings.
The world was alive, and he had become an instrument of nature's will.
They had been put on the trail of their quarry by their leader. The woman his true Mistress hunted; High Priestess of the Zeison Sha. A groundbreaker unlike any that had come to the Zeison Sha before, for she could read the future in the wind swept sands of their home.
She was Traya's mother.
The smugglers they pursued could scarcely believe the chase; armed as he was with the Force Naruto did not feel a shred of sympathy for the beings.
At first he had found it difficult to conceal his dark nature whilst training with the Zeison Sha. They had taken him in out of consideration for his situation, but they clammed up at any mention of Mara.
He had played the ruse out as one seeking vengeance at first, and his tutors had attributed the slight slips in his mask that occurred to grief over his 'father.'
Eventually however he caught the hang of the Zeison philosophy. In their own way they were as scoured and hardboiled as their home, and as a result their abilities edged closer to the dark than to the light.
It took him a year to make that breakthrough. A year he spent clad in plain robes and, on the rare occasion he forayed outside of the temple complex, the light armor of the Zeison Sha initiate.
Afterwards his rise had been assured and rapid.
He led the pack now as they hunted the smugglers; nipping at their heels like a pack of wolves with blood scent in snout.
He wasn't in charge of this mission, yet his Master, the very same Twi'leck that had welcomed him to the temple, lagged just off of his shoulder.
This was not through any fault of the heavy set and pale warrior, but was simply on account of Naruto's speed.
No one in the temple could keep up with him during a windstorm.
The gusts of wind played across the land. Sometimes the invisible paths granted speed to their passage as they pursued the speeders, but there were just as many counter winds running parallel to their destination.
This did not matter to the Zeison Sha warriors. Every single one of them harnessed the winds into a jet of power that propelled in meter devouring leaps.
Naruto and others already had their discblades to hand. He had crafted the weapon himself spending long hours of the process.
The T-shaped grip was fashioned from Nacre. It was covered in a clear hard plastic which had been easy to come by, but the iridescent colors shone through the protective material.
Naruto remembered the day he had dived into the sea to find it. They had all thought him to be mad.
There had been a collective wail as his form had plummeted down towards the seas. The winds here were unpredictable, and on several occasions the malevolent gusts had tried to smash him against the cliff face. He had held his nerve and will however; waiting for the perfect air current; one that would send him flying far away to crash into the sea.
It arrived in the nick of time, and the rest was as they say... history.
The vibroblade fanned out of his weapon's grip. Its dull surface was standard, but the silvery vine of purified cortosis that was embedded within it rare and expensive.
Such valuable material was reserved for only the best warriors, but nobody could say Naruto hadn't earned it.
Not after what he had gone through just to earn the bloody grip.
He was almost within throwing range, and adrenalin began to flood his system. Naruto let out a wild whoop. He could barely restrain himself.
His vision tunneled as the slowest vehicle plunked firmly into his mental crosshairs.
It would only take one strike of his deadly blade to disable or destroy.
Man and discblade were already attuned, and all that remained was the throw. He located a friendly wind stream that would aid his control and brought it under his command. His blade writhed within his fist as if it were alive. He had filled it to the brim with Force energy.
When he threw the motion was almost casual, but the blade arced out with terrifying speed. It zoomed through the air in a semicircle trajectory. Naruto could see the lines of sparkling power that connected the blade to the target, and to Naruto himself.
As it crashed into the engine housing of the target Speeder he had already plotted its return path, and he altered his wind assisted bounds accordingly.
Naruto's Force energy protected the weapon, and lent it power, while the wicked curves of its gleaming blades rapidly ate through the protective housing.
The blade was still hot in his mind as he recalled it insistently. It shot out of the housing at an even faster clip than its initial penetration. It was as if the discblade realized the danger it was in, and belatedly tired of shredding the speeder's interior. It wrenched itself free of the mangled wreckage just in time as the volatile engine of the broken machine exploded.
He ignored the scattered bits of his first victim as he steadily gained on the others.
One vehicle had banked abruptly as its owners sought to cover their companions with covering fire. The Speeder still fleeing the scene was no doubt the one carrying their most precious cargo, or their leader.
Naruto headed straight for the now idle vehicle, and he watched as its owners tumbled out. The men trained their weapons on the approaching warriors. Sparks of blaster fire joined the fray.
Naruto twisted and ducked through the storm of energy guided only by his reflexes and the Force. It was at times like this that he wished for his Lightsaber; although his discblade could be used as a shield of last resort.
Still he made it through unscathed. He was aided in no small part by his companions who had sent their own blades arcing out.
His eyes picked out the forms of two men suddenly cut down with discs sticking from the side of the head. (Another man who was luckier or more hard done by depending on when you stand ended up with a discblade sawing through his thigh before its owner called it back on a path that claimed his opposite arm.)
Naruto settled on his own targets as the team streaked past him in pursuit of the other speeder.
"Surrender!" he yelled as he closed with the three surviving members out of this particular crew. He said this more for show than anything else.
Sometimes he was so close to letting the mask he had worn over the past years slip that he had to shore up his act with little pretensions such as this.
Typically they did not answer.
The first man came at him with energy weapon barking. Twenty meters away Naruto used the force to rip one of the doors off of their immobile speeder, and he sent it careening into the man's neck partially decapitating him.
The others blanched at this, but he did not have a moment's mercy to spare them.
I guess this is almost what they would have called Taijutsu territory back in Konoha.
He released his discblade again and it snaked out to sever the weapons in the hands of both remaining men. It returned to his grasp just as he landed on one of the men with both feet crunching into his chest. As the man went down he plunged the blade deep into his throat.
"N- No!" the other man managed to garble as he turned to flee; his weapon abandoned, dead comrades, and illicit cargo no longer worth it.
It would have been unseemly to kill a fleeing opponent so Naruto simply used his blade to hamstring the man.
However he could not help but do it up close and bloody, so that the blood ran all the way up to his forearms.
He had to sate the beast within whenever he could.
Afterwards it only took moments for him to realize that he had lost sight of all the others.
His Zeison Sha mentor had continued the pursuit to hunt down the sole remaining transport.
The ground currents were exceedingly powerful, and manipulating the force to ride them made you move very quickly. Even though Naruto had been trained by the Zeison Sha to constantly deflect the wind around him with telekinesis, to the point where it was a reflexive action, stray blasts of air still made their way through his protective bubble to buffet his blond locks.
He brushed the offending hair out of his eyes. He was slightly frustrated as he called to inform Master Idrall that he was a bit expended after his own battle and would be heading back.
None the wiser to his ulterior plans his Master had agreed to continue the mission without him. If he could have seen Naruto's blood splattered form he would no doubt have been doubly sure that his apprentice needed a rest.
It was rare that the Zeison Sha's latest prodigy needed a break.
After informing Idrall that there was a single captive Naruto tied up the crippled survivor. The man wasn't going anywhere and the warriors who rode the winds with his Master could navigate their way back through the desert in their sleep.
"The sands are gonna try ta bury you so I suggest you wriggle around... a lot," he said as he set off on the currents once more. He didn't know if the smuggler would heed his words but in all honesty he didn't much care.
He only had a couple hours before his absence would be missed. He had to use this rare opportunity to contact Traya, for he knew in his bones that he had learnt all that he cared to from the warriors, and he itched to move on.
He was amazingly lucky to be in the vicinity of her hidden base, and his loping step brought him to her copse in under an hour.
He skulked around its edge now. It was the same place where she had sheltered him all those years ago.
The thought of his former naive self brought a smirk to face.
Though Naruto was only thirteen years old you would have mistaken him for a mature teen as he strode into the clearing with his back straight and eyes alert.
The potions Traya had given him had completed their work, even though he had only consumed them for about eight months, and he had almost finished growing over the two years and a bit he had spent amongst the Zeison Sha.
Naruto stood at over six feet, and his body was wiry muscle. This was apparent under the purple dyed armor of a warrior which he bore with the ease of long use.
Training with the Yanibaree warriors had driven the fundamentals of combat deep into his bones, and Naruto had become a more complete warrior for the experience.
His face was burned slightly from wind lash, despite the protective salves the Zeison Sha habitually slathered on, yet his clear cerulean eyes were full of focus.
Accessing the secret passageway only took minutes, and afterwards memories of the time he had spent in this place flooded his mind as he stalked through the cavern halls.
The walls of the underground system reflected cast sounds far.
Traya had attempted to combat this problem by implementing twists, turns, and great thick barriers of stone to serve as doors; Naruto was but twenty meters from her chambers when he heard the noises coming from within.
His heart ceased for an instant before icy calm flooded his veins.
Jealousy, betrayal, and a dozen unnamed emotions threatened to unman him, and wrest his control, but if there was one thing he had learned as a Sith it was that powerful emotions needed to be nursed if their strength was to be fully exploited.
Groans, shrieks, and the slapping sounds of passion assailed his years as he approached Traya's chambers through the dimly lit corridor.
Bile rose in his throat. He had never heard his Mistress utter such guttural moans.
He pushed against the door softly, and it opened with the faintest creak.
The room was inundated with the Force. Slowly it dawned on him. He realized in horror that Traya touched the dark in order to harvest the sexual energy of her lovers.
He had never before witnessed such action; things on the bed were out of control.
There lay Traya with her legs wrapped around the pumping waist of a Falleen male. Naruto wrinkled his nose. He could not imagine how she had procured the reptile, and the creature's pheromones colored the room with a dank musk odor.
Their naked bodies squirmed on the bed as Traya's Force ritual harvested the alien's vitality.
The Falleen wasn't a consenting party to the fucking.
Traya's clothes were damp with sweat and her hair glistened. Naruto could not help but focus on her face in repulsed fascination. She had her eyes squeezed shut, and chin firmly locked on the Falleen's shoulder.
One could have mistaken the posture for that of love if you did not notice how the Falleen seemed to shrivel as the seconds elapsed; almost as if he was having his life fluid sucked out.
A manic grin full of power, lust, and pleasure painted his Mistress's visage.
She had not even noticed Naruto's presence, laid bare in the Force as he was, that was how deeply she had sunk into her magic.
Naruto gulped at the realization that no male could ever survive intercourse with Mara Venton...
A strange grin came to his face. Watching them he had come to be sure that Falleen would surely be dead when she was through.
Was I really jealous of this?
He spared one last pitying glance at the Falleen. The being did not have much more in him, and Naruto would have to take what he had come for quickly before Traya caught on.
He had come to ask her to lend him her Lightsaber. He would use it to kill his Sha Master, and assume his place as first warrior. Everyone would assume that it was the work of their leader's errant daughter, and there was the chance that he would gain unfiltered access to the High Priestess.
But now he was going to steal it, for a part of him still felt that Traya's sexual predation was a sort of betrayal.
Whilst he had been learning the ways of the Zeison Sha she had been consolidating her grip over Yanibar's tiny but vicious underworld.
The smuggling crews he had hunted down earlier along with the Sha had been in her employ.
He looked to the bed furtively as the new plan crystallized in his mind.
His Mistress's Lightsaber lay beside her, and the silvery hilt beckoned to him.
He floated it away from her; using his power he bound the weapon's hilt with gossamer tendrils of wind.
Things were about to get very interesting at Sha Kalan.
Coruscant: The Jedi Temple
"And what of the boy Uchiha Sasuke?" Tessus was the oldest member of the council, but it was rare for the taciturn Gen'Dai to contribute to their deliberations.
The venerable Master was over a thousand years old, and his formless body, a clusters of nerve and muscle, quivered in a peculiar rhythm on the squat stump that served as his chair as his blood pumped.
"I sense that he is also ready to undergo the tests, and his Master is in agreement," Loric Gent replied respectfully.
Although he was Grand Master of the Coruscanti Order he was well aware that the wizened bundle that questioned him had witnessed the careers of all his ancestors.
"He came to us filled to the brim with anger," Tessus mused. He knew a lot about anger. His uncle Durge had been a vicious killer, and was still the most infamous member of his species in the galaxy.
"There is truth in that, and traditionally all three were too old for training. But I think it is fair to say that they have surpassed our expectations," Pav Qeral had proved herself to be the most vocal supporter of the children on the council. Hinata had been her Padawan for over a year.
There was a silence as the whole room weighed the words that had been spoken so far. Jedi Masters were not known for coming to quick decisions, nor would they hawk and haggle like the politicians housed the planet's assembly a click away.
Finally Grandmaster Loric judged the gathered beings to have come to their decisions. It was time for the vote.
"What say you Tessus? Do we allow the children to test for Knighthood," he asked the Gen'Dai Master. Many in the room heeded the beings words over his. However Loric felt no antagonism towards Tessus. There were times when even he valued the Gen'Dai's council over his own.
"The girls are ready. Sakura will make an excellent healer one day, and it has been a long time since the order has been blessed with the likes of Hinata."
"And Sasuke?" Loric pressed.
"It has been a long time since the order has seen his like as well," Tessus paused. Loric could tell that the energy in the room was firmly behind the old master. "I do not think that he is ready to be a Knight, and I don't think we are ready for him. His potential is too great, but I still have hope that his Padawan blade will teach him humility. "
Loric gave each council member a chance to speak, but it was quickly apparent that Tessus would have his way. When the tally was over he rose to his feet signaling the end of the informal gathering.
"Haruna Sakura and Hyuuga Hinata are to undertake the trials. We will observe Uchiha Sasuke's progress in the arts of... humility."
Pav sidled up to Loric as the rest of the council broke into clumps of muttering conversation, and slowly filtered out of the room.
"Orton is going to be furious you know," she said.
Sasuke was the apprentice of Master Orton. Orton was a great bear of a man. Before he had taken Sasuke on he had the temple's Battle master, and he vehemently insisted that his protégée was ready to test for Knighthood.
Orton had taken his apprentice on a trip to the under levels, but he would want word of the councils deliberations immediately upon his return.
They were following a lead concerning the new kind of spice that had been killing large numbers of consumers however, and it would be a while before Loric had to face that particular challenge.
"It is not rare for Masters to be blind to the faults of their students," he replied.
Pav smiled. "I can't wait to see you say that to Master Orton's face."
Sha Kalan
Despite the speed for which he was famed Naruto got back to the temple after the war party he had set out with.
The last Speeder was parked at the foot of the temple. Its insignificant mass served as a trophy to be viewed by the townsfolk around, and served to highlight the marvelous stone edifice to Zeison Sha rule it guarded.
He felt the Lightsaber press against his back where he had stashed it under his armor and cloak. He had an irrational fear that the weapon would self-ignite and cripple him for life.
He had an odd sense of déjà vu as he saw his Zeison Sha Master Natsec Idrall waiting for him at the Zenith.
"First warrior!" he called out respectfully as he slowed his pace to a walk. "Did you find success hunting the last crew?" lines of tension were writ plain in Natsec's demeanor, and the Twi'leck's lekku writhed in consternation.
"Where were you?" he asked brusquely, "you said you would be returning to the temple."
"I was tired and I misread the sands," Naruto lied.
"You did what? You are not an apprentice any longer child," Natsec's disbelief was evident. He eased up however. His student had proved himself in battle many times over. "Anyway never mind that. The man that you cut down bled out into the sands. How many times do I have to tell you that you go too far? Any one of them could have had valuable information."
"My apologies Master," Naruto placed one hand on the burly Twi'leck's shoulder, and after only a brief hesitation the sentient followed him into the temple. "I need to control myself better, but when I see her smugglers and crooks and remember the havoc they bring to our towns I can't help myself."
"You are young," Natsec said indulgently. "You will understand why you need to temper your fist with mercy as you grow in the way. It may sound strange, but you need to forgive Mara for what she did to your family," the Twi'leck trailed off before whispering, "We all need to forgive her - though she is our enemy."
You would be right old warrior if I was the person you thought I was. It's unfortunate, but you have to die soon so I can move on. You and your people have nothing left to give me.
Coruscant: The Jedi Temple
Hinata was calm as she sat in lotus. Her nerves were steady as she began her trial of the spirit, and she sank into a bottomless Jedi trance.
Her Lightsaber lay on the floor of the room by her side. The shaggy hairs of the Bantha hide she used to strap the hilt had been dyed into a striking pattern of purple and white. She had chosen the design in homage of her faraway clan.
The tiny part of her that retained consciousness recalled the trials she had just gone through; the trials of skill, courage, and the flesh.
Her forearm and thighs still burned where the saber of her opponent had touched her (these wounds marked her mastery over the flesh), and her mind was still wrung out after her prolonged use of the Force.
She remembered the specter that had stood before her in the training chamber. The figures dark cloak had blended into the lightless room, but she had still sensed a familiar presence in its gait.
She had recoiled in horror when it revealed its face, and she was confronted with the azure eyes and blonde hair that stalked her nightmares.
Her heart had torn with every blow that she struck against the foe; that she struck against the evil simulacrum of Naruto.
She had not known that her true opponent was the current Battle Master of the order. The observing Masters had been impressed by her controlled ferocity as she held her own against the best duelist Coruscant had to offer.
Hinata was versed in the Ataru style, sometimes called Form IV. The powerful bounds and motions suited her unique Byakuugan, and she was rapidly achieving mastery over the style.
She was a bundle as they darted within the training space. There were occasional prolonged exchanges. Then her blade would dart and snake at her opponent, and she would seem to careen about within a small defined space; her constant steps serving as defense.
Yet she was facing a Master of the order - one that was dedicated to the Lightsaber. The Battle Master wore her down slowly, and in the process examined her Lightsaber technique.
His appreciation of her skill was evident in the blow that put her down; a debilitating attack to the thighs that she only just blocked.
If she had lacked even a grain of the skill she possessed then she would have had to rely on bionics for the rest of her life.
Upon her defeat the illusion was broken and Hinata remembered that she was testing for her Knighthood. She had been swallowed by the craft of the order to the extent that she had really believed Naruto had become evil, and she had been engaged in a battle with him for her very life.
They had not given her anytime to rest, for the trials, by their nature, had to be unrelenting.
Now she was fully consumed in her trial of the spirit, and she there was no more room to recollect all that had passed. Hinata faced the mirror.
She saw a vision of the future, or rather a vision of the future that might have been.
She saw herself three, or four years older. Perhaps she was at the age of sixteen or seventeen. Naruto was in this vision as well, but here he cradled her broken form. She knew that she had just saved his life in some way. An unnamed enemy lurked just over his shoulder. The heavily pierced man whispered words to poison her friend's heart.
This Hinata had taken to wearing her hair loose, just as the present incarnation did. But her archaic furred chainmail was at odds with the tan Jedi robes the real Hinata wore. Blood seeped from her mouth, and Hinata could tell that the woman had not quite outgrown her inherent shyness, just as she still exhibited some timid traits.
The woman coughed up some blood and Hinata felt an echo of her pain. In many ways she was still this woman, for all she knew this Hinata had lived her own life to the fullest in some different telling of events.
This woman had never known the love of the order. Hinata felt a deep compassion for her alternate self as the woman confessed to Naruto whilst on the verge of death.
As the scene faded from her memory Hinata felt an odd sensation of completeness suffuse her body. The vision had changed her. For the first time her history with Konoha became just a memory and she could accept her life with the order as reality.
She opened her eyes and was greeted with the sight of the Master's clustered around her. Worry was lined in Mistress Pav's face. She must have been under for a long while.
"Are you ready for the trial of insight?" Pav was worried, but it was only proper that her Mistress guided her past this final step.
"I am ready," Hinata felt sure that she would overcome this last hurdle.
She had emerged from her spiritual trial a full-fledged Knight of the order, and all that was left was for the universe to know it.
- Darklighter