Hurt

by Mondo Nyoka

After the Jedi Purge on Coruscant, Darth Maul returns. Already in denial of how much he has changed since Naboo, he finds himself in a situation that forces him to face his past and present, and to show devotion to someone other than Sidious... 2/14!

15. The Wretched

Oh hi. What, surprised I put this up so fast? DON'T GET TOO COMFORTABLE WITH THIS!

Actually, I had a few questions for you readers... Clone Wars is starting to rip my life into pieces with this Savage Oppress character and saying that Maul is actually half-zabrak/half-human and what not (lol, I'm a geek). Before, this was not the case but it might end up being canon... *rolls eyes*

SO I was wondering if you all think that it is acceptable of me to continue on with my version of D. Maul which was based on his previous information rather than this Nightbrother BS (not that it is a horrible concept; it isn't helpful towards the plot though). Is it cool? Hmm? HMMMM?

I'm dedicating this MONSTER of a chapter to VoyagerGirl, AgniFox, Sammy Holzbein, RachoThePsycho, maiziii, and shabbacabba... for reviewing!

Because reviews are pretty fricken awesome. Just saying...

Oh, and RachoThePsycho- I am going to go ahead and use you as an example here. If anyone has any questions about the story, ask and I will give an answer :)

... Romance? Though the concept of a strong, dark silent-type of man being swept off of his booted feet by a wounded, vulnerable heroine is a nice one... I'm going to say no. ONLY because if there is any kind of "relationship" built in this, it will certainly not be anything normal and classic.

(And yes Racho, I realize what you "asked" may have been rhetorical. Just wanted to use it as an example!)

Now to the story... this chapter is very much in lines with a MATURE-rated fanfic. Please don't be surprised by the angst, violence, and super depression. And be aware of the difference between what Maulie sees and what the "Jeedai" has actually gone through.

Enjoy! I'll try and get another one up here within a month, but I can't make promises. IRL sometimes has to take priority.

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(I do not own anything from Star Wars.)

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Chapter 15: The Wretched

If there was ever a time that the bothan guard known as Farkas wished not to be on Coruscant, it was when he sat in room 2382 on the 23rd floor. He had been rather busy a few hours previous to this moment, gathering information and watching all records that involved camera footage of what happened.

What many of the people in the building did not know was that it was filled with video recording devices. Azazul had made sure to keep an alarmingly efficient surveillance system on hand, specifically with making sure that their Jedi captive would not escape.

However, when Azazul decided to start using her for his own pleasure seeking needs instead of torturing her for specifics on designated hideouts for any of the escaped Jedi, the cameras were for more than just security.

While scouring through archives of visual files, Farkas had come across a rather odd collection of videos in a non-dated format. All security files were supposed to be dated, as per the standard procedure within security. When he opened them up to see what they contained, he immediately wished that he hadn't.

All of them were of Uriael Lumen being raped and tortured. As soon as he heard her scream in pain while the rattataki began moving on top of her, Farkas could no longer watch. The files continued to play on, and Farkas could feel a sickening welt grow and fester within him.

Then there was a change. A new set of files that had yet to be watched by anyone appeared, and instead of Azazul and the Jedi, it was a man clad in black who seemed to investigate the area.

Farkas knew only then that Darth Maul's room had been packed with cameras. He saw when the Uriael first arrived and when the Sith obviously found out that she was what she was.

The bothan male noticed the difference between the two men when he saw that after the first night, Maul hadn't touched her. Certainly he had appeared as if he would a few times, but from the perspective of an outsider, Farkas thought it was mainly to inspire fear in the prisoner.

He got to see the night in which she had become sick from the failed pregnancy and then later on in that day, she had for some reason escaped; there was no footage of that on the balcony and somehow she evaded all cameras outside of the hanger. Hours later she and the Sith returned and even exchanged odd words with one another.

He pressed on waiting for the most recent footage to appear. It was boring and standard for a few days, which he supposed was very kind for the Jedi. Imara and Safi came in and out and would stay for hours at times, while Himmel kept reasonably quiet for the most part.

The videos from the day in question had been locked instead of deleted. Farkas knew that rather than destroy the evidence to prevent Maul from finding it that someone like Volutta would keep them intact so she could show Azazul of the Jedi's "impudence."

He spat at the zeltron's and the rattataki's names.

To unlock that footage was simple enough for a hacker. The fact that Azazul had left Volutta in charge of security at all was a joke. Farkas thought that all she was good for was sauntering around in heels.

He began to watch the now unlocked footage and so far there wasn't anything too interesting… except for the fact that Imara was not present at all.

Then, as soon as Safi ran into the room bloodied and distressed, Farkas' attention rose. From listening to her attempts to explain what had happened to seeing her refer to the Jedi as "Master Lumen" while hugging her tightly, he didn't know how to react.

To say that he was shocked by what that footage revealed was an understatement. As soon as Tanran had stormed into that room, all Hell broke loose within the building and Farkas was beyond words. He sat there for around an hour, watching what the cameras had captured not just on the 23rd floor, but also the landing below, and the hanger.

If Farkas had an affinity with the Force like the Jedi or Maul or any of the people at that place, he probably would have taken it upon himself to kill or seriously maim all of Azazul's men.

…

Now he waited in 2382 with a sleeping twi'lek youngling, whose future he was uncertain of due to the fact that she was supposedly a Jedi initiate, while pulling up all files on the day that would be of interest to the Sith. He began to put them in order according to time since Lord Maul was very late for their meeting.

Farkas wondered where the man would have taken off to at such odd hours in the morning when he noticed the balcony's screen opened up. He looked in its direction and had to consider and reconsider what he saw.

There stood Darth Maul dripping with the early morning's rain, with a limp bodied person covered in his hooded cloak and soaked to the brim.

Maul motioned for the bothan to follow him and he did as was requested, even though going into the bathroom was strange for two men and an unconscious body. The lights turned on and Farkas couldn't help but flinch away from the brightness. He had been sitting in a dimly lit room since around 0330 hours in the morning.

As Maul began to de-clothe the person, Farkas realized who it was and was perplexed and alarmed. The Jedi appeared different without the markings on her face.

"Were you able to find anything of interest?" Maul asked, unconcerned with the bothan's curiosity over the woman he was undressing.

"Yes, Sir," Farkas answered, just before Maul completely removed his robes from her.

As soon as he saw the lacerations on her small back, he had to prevent his gag reflex from acting out.

It's worse than I thought…

Maul sent the drenched robe over to a corner in the bathroom and allowed it to plop heavily onto the floor. He then picked the female up and positioned her to sit on the edge of the bath, while facing its center, so he could better examine her wounds.

"Lord Maul?" Farkas said, watching as her body remained limp.

He looked at the bothan who stood on edge, confused at what he saw.

"She is alive."

"Oh…"

Maul put his attention once again onto the woman's back. The wounds seemed a lot worse under the light than they had in the temple. Now he was certain to see what appeared to be her ribs showing through some of the cuts.

"She put herself into a trance-like state when she reached the Jedi temple."

"She escaped to the temple?"

"Yes, on foot."

Farkas stayed quiet as Maul picked a loose piece of fabric out of one of the deeper lacerations.

"We need to clean her up and wake her to answer some questions," Maul stated as he began to strip what was left of her shirt off. "But before that, I need to be sure of something."

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Do you know of the people who set twenty four cameras throughout my suite?"

Farkas stilled in place and shook his head, "I do not know who did, Sir."

"Did you know that there were recording devices placed in my room?"

"I only found out this morning," he answered honestly and awkwardly. "It's one of the things I wish to speak with you about."

Farkas quickly turned his head away when Maul had stripped the woman down to her bare skin, minus her bottom undergarments, and proceeded in taking his own clothes off.

"My Lord, if you wish for me to come back later-"

"Quit blubbering, Commander," Maul chastised while throwing his tunic to the ground. "I am only taking her to the shower."

As he took his gloves off simultaneously, the bothan could not help but wonder what kind of person would want to go through the pain of all of the tattoos that Maul had upon himself.

"Go and wait with the youngling. She will probably awaken soon, and I need to speak with her as well."

"Yes, my Lord."

The bothan exited and left them alone.

Maul took off his shoes and pants but left his underwear on, and then retrieved the Jedi into his arms once again. It felt a lot less uncomfortable to have something separating his lower half from hers.

As soon as he stepped into the shower, the water turned on. He forcefully made the temperature control move completely towards the red as to make it hot. Maul was not well educated in healing techniques, but had learned on his own that hot water could help sterilize surfaces, whether a countertop or living tissue.

He remained standing and held onto her in such a way that her back was facing the water. He understood that if anyone had seen the two of them that the position would have seemed compromising; her head rested on his left shoulder, her bare chest hunched over against his own, and his hands were beneath each thigh to prop her up.

The Sith began to pull the Force towards himself, ignoring the feel of the hot water on his face. It speedily darkened and swirled within him, putting his body at ease.

He then began to push the Force into the unconscious body he held.

"Wake up, Jedi."

At first, nothing happened. He must have been standing there for ten minutes before noticing that her body was resisting the darkness of his own.

His brows furrowed downward in both annoyance and concentration. He focused even more strenuously until he could feel his body aflame with a surge of dark power. He forced it into the woman, uncaring of any discomfort it caused.

"Wake up," he growled.

Against his chest he could feel her heart begin to beat in a more normal rhythm than it had been for the past twelve hours, and her breathing with it.

The smell of fresh blood rose along with the steam. Maul moved his right forearm underneath her rear to leave his other hand free to move her tail of hair away from the now draining wounds. Though it was not the best thing for her to bleed again, it was a good sign that her blood was beginning to circulate at a normal rate.

He watched her face, waiting for some sort of response or action. There was a bit of color return to her cheeks and lips and her body had regained some warmth; from the shower or not was unclear.

The muscles in her arms and legs began to twitch involuntarily as the vessels began to widen from the flow of blood. He was even able to see some of the vessels slightly bulge in her hands and forearms.

All seemed satisfactory to Maul until her heart began to race against him and her breathing matched the pace. He could sense that her body was feeling pain despite still being asleep. The hot water was probably no help to her.

He stepped back out of the shower and it automatically turned off. After a few moments, it felt as though she was never in the heated water; her skin reversed back to cool and returned to a moribund color almost immediately.

Where are those damned droids?

As if on cue, a droid with a cylindrical shape and a domed head made its way out of a cabinet and came towards him while the two smaller ones started to work.

"Here is a towel for you, Sir."

"Give me more."

The droid gave him the rest of the stack of towels that were warm within him.

"Are there any medical droids on the property?" Maul questioned while smothering her bleeding back with one of them.

"I do believe so," it answered.

"Bring one up here to me, now. Make it quiet and quick. And bring me a bath robe," he ordered.

"There are robes folded in the cabinet. I will bring you the med-droid right away."

The droid scurried away, and despite its monotone and droll voice, it moved rather fast.

Maul willed all of the cabinet doors open and finally brought forth a robe from one of them. He caught it and placed it by his side, for then, while lowering himself into a crouch to lay her on the floor.

He started to dry her off and noticed that her breathing was fast but shallow. He then grabbed her wrist to feel for her pulse; it was also fast and almost non-perceptible. While he had a hold of her wrist, he noticed that her nail bedding had grown pale.

What in the Hell?

She had the appearance of someone on their death bed. Maul had already dried her skin of water and found that a sheen of sweat accumulated. He made sure to dry his hands off before he touched against her stomach to find that she felt clammy.

He lifted her by her shoulders and saw that she still bled. The towel beneath her was completely stained with both bright and deep red blood. He switched it out for another one and pressed the new towel even harder into her, to the point that it shoved into one of the deeper wounds.

The amount of pain that the action caused brought the Jedi to semi-consciousness. Her eyes opened up slightly and she hissed out a breath from the throbbing sensation on her back. She brought her knees into her chest and began to shiver despite herself.

Maul tried to lift her up, again, to better put pressure on the lacerations but the Jedi was able to protest against him touching her, despite how obviously weak she felt.

"Don't test my patience, woman," Maul warned through thought.

She opened her eyes slowly, to prevent from scarring her tired eyes from the light. It didn't take much stimuli to figure out that she was on a tiled floor and mostly nude. The blurred color spectrum of wherever she was also seemed familiar.

The first thing she could decipher was the pain that she felt. It was a mixture of sensations; dull, throbbing, and most recently it had felt as though someone had taken a piece of glass and stabbed her with it. She knew that the pain was in her back and why.

"No…"

Maul ignored her as he peeled the towel off of her back, even when her face contorted from the awful sensation of material within such a tender area.

Before he placed pressure with another towel, two droids entered the room through the cabinet just to the left of the sink. One was the droid designated to that floor and the other was a GH-7 medical droid.

"Here is the medical droid you have requested, Sir," the floor droid said.

"I am at your service," the med-droid explained as it floated out of the cabinet with an attached tray of medical supplies in tow.

As soon as it saw who the patient was, he zoomed past the other droid and the threatening, half-naked man's stare to begin inspecting the woman.

"Could we possibly bring her to a bed? She appears rather exhausted."

Maul picked her up, along with the bathrobe, and began to make his way out of the bathroom with the medical droid following him closely. The other droid stayed behind and sent orders to the two smaller droids to do a second run over the bathroom floors.

While walking through the kitchen into the living room, Maul noticed that Farkas had remained near the youngling on the couch, while skimming through files on his tablet.

Before the bothan had even noticed that Maul had the Jedi in tow and was headed to the bedroom, Maul and the med-droid had already made it past the closing door. The dim lights turned on as he placed the woman on her stomach.

The medical droid began to scan her with green light. He started at her head and ended at the soles of her feet. He then began to do such tasks as taking vitals, measuring her wounds, checking capillary refill in her nail beds, and collecting a small sample of blood. After moving into a corner for less than two minutes, he returned and had begun to diagnose.

"Human female, 20s, has twelve wounds on back; specifically lacerations ranging from 20 centimeters to 50 centimeters long, 5 centimeters wide, and 5 centimeters to 10 centimeters deep. Patient presents with shallow breathing, pale pallor, cool temperature, and generalized diaphoresis. Vital signs measured; temperature of 35.2 degrees, blood pressure of 72 over 44, pulse of 120, and respirations of 26. Capillary refill is greater than two seconds and hard to present due to pallor. Blood test shows 40% blood volume loss. Diagnosis: hypovolemic shock."

The droid had begun to detach specific items that hung from his tray. One was at first nothing but a small, metal stick but revealed to be a compact pole with a hook. He placed it to the side closest to the Jedi and then pulled out a plastic bag which had clear fluid within it.

"What is that?" Maul asked, out of curiosity.

"A hypotonic IV solution to help treat dehydration," the droid explained while hanging the bag onto the hook.

"Intravenous?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Is it necessary?"

"It would be better to have an actual stock of blood to transfuse. If I do not at least give her basic fluids, she could be left with kidney damage, brain damage, and her body could be damaged enough to where she could die."

Just then, the Jedi began to try to lift herself off of the bed. Maul started towards her, as she tried rolling onto her back and caught her by the shoulders.

"Don't move," he said, shortly.

"Please… don't," she mumbled while trembling in his hold, uncaring of the fact that she was topless and exposed.

She tried to focus on his face but was unable to.

"You have no choice in the matter," he said, his patience wearing thin. "Stay still."

He released her and with no support, she fell back onto her front side. She went unconscious again and continued to breathe rapidly.

The droid took this time to quickly insert a needle into her right arm. He then pulled out the needle and left in a tube which was the port for the IV infusion.

After connecting the IV with the port and setting the infusion rate, the droid stated, "I am going to start packing the wounds, and then attach an antibiotic drip to the IV. This could be lengthy in terms of healing, but I will stay as long as I am needed. I will inform you of any relevant developments in her condition."

Maul left the droid to deal with the Jedi and went back out into the living room. He did not seem to mind that Farkas and the now conscious twi'lek youngling saw him in his underwear when he willed his bracelet over to him.

He dialed in a code and positioned it so that a hologram of HK-48 appeared.

"Come up to my room and bring my wardrobe. Bloodfin should still be warm and will come to the room automatically."

"I will be up shortly, my Lord."

Everyone was silent for a few minutes. The youngling did her best to not look at the nearly naked man and Farkas did the same.

Then, Maul made a hand gesture and the curved glass screen moved upward. A black droid, almost as dangerous in appearance as its master, walked into the living room with a pile of stacked clothes in one hand.

Maul grabbed the pile and decided to wear something more casual. He picked out a short sleeved shirt that he would occasionally work out in and pants that were shorter in length. He then pointed the droid over to where his room was, and HK-48 proceeded to place the clothes in the closet.

After Maul got changed in the bathroom, he made his way out into the living room and stood in front of his two guests, in his typical cross-armed stance.

Rather than start off with doing anything with the initiate who currently was doing everything in her power to keep from squirming under the Sith's gaze, he brushed her aside for the moment and switched over to the bothan. The current state of the Jedi captive was enough to make him want answers as to the events that led up to that point.

"Give me what you have, Farkas."

Farkas had not been looking forward to the presentation he was about to make, but he knew that he had to.

"I first want to say that I have deleted any and all visual data that was collected within this room, up until yesterday. I was the only one to have seen the footage and even so, I merely skimmed over the film."

Maul nodded his head.

"While going through the files collected throughout the building, I found two locked sets of entries- one locked under Azazul's name and another locked under Volutta's. The stuff under Azazul's codes…"

Farkas glanced over at the youngling, obviously uncomfortable with saying what it was he found with a child present. Maul shut his eyes and could only imagine what sort of snuff films Azazul created when having his way with the Jedi.

"Volutta's stash of footage was what we were looking for. From 1500 on, there is about an hour's worth of data from this room, the landing of the building and the hanger."

Farkas then stood up and placed his data pad on the kitchen counter and positioned it in a particular way. He then pointed at the youngling and wiggled his finger so that she would know to walk towards him.

She passed by Maul with a lot of fear.

"If you would pardon me, Sir," Farkas requested.

Maul moved to his right and decidedly moved the armchair on that side of the wall and sat down.

Farkas then clicked on his datapad and a crisp projection of the very room they were in appeared on the wall above the couch.

Maul recognized the scene immediately. The youngling had already confessed to her Jedi affiliation at this point, which he figured Farkas set up on purpose. She ran into his bedroom and then he saw that the Jedi had made a hand movement towards the room.

She must have forced her to sleep.

He watched on and saw that the Knight had persuaded the young noghri guard to back away from the door. As soon as he did, the door shot open, and the bastard twi'lek that made Maul's blood boil stumbled into the scene.

---

Uriael remained on the floor when the drunken man first entered the room, heated and on the hunt. Himmel was only a foot ahead of her, against the wall closest to the couch.

She could sense the fact that he was heavily intoxicated and decided to take things as slow as she could afford.

Tanran looked at her and couldn't help but smile.

"Uriael! My, oh my, aren't you looking lovely. I haven't seen you in ages!"

Uriael did not hide her displeasure at seeing him.

"Tanran, it would be best if you left. Right now," she warned. "I heard about what Darth Maul did to your hand when you disobeyed once before. How is it feeling, by the way?"

He took a few steps toward her and displayed a now healed hand.

"It feels alright, though that horned prick really did a number on it," he said, allowing his smile to turn perverse. "Though I'm sure he's done worse to you, hmmm?"

Uriael made no response to Tanran's comment. However, she did stay on edge when he began moving closer to her.

Himmel remained alert towards his movements and still had his blaster in his grasp.

"You know, little Uriael, I never did understand why Azazul has been so taken with you lately. He can't even stand to be with Volutta in bed anymore because he thinks that being with you is that much more fulfilling to his wants and needs."

He kneeled down in front of her and cocked his head to his left.

"It is certainly making the Lady jealous. She hates you right now."

"You can tell her that she can keep Azazul all to herself," Uriael said calmly.

"That's Lord Azazul to you, little whore," he showed his sharpened teeth as he continued to appear more vicious. "How does it feel to be fucked by two men who you absolutely despise?"

She shut her eyes and took in a deep breath.

At the moment, she was faced with the creep that had killed Imara. There were many instinctual actions that she wanted to take in order to harm this man, but she stayed calm as best as she could.

"What are you doing here, Tanran?" she finally asked.

He looked around the room for a few seconds before answering, "Well, you see, I'm looking for my new play thing. She is acting like a prude, however, and has run off. Have you seen her by chance?"

"Who is this again?"

"Safi," he spit out, as if it was completely obvious.

"I haven't seen her since… 20 minutes ago?"

She looked over at Himmel, acting as if she was wondering if he had the same time frame.

"Yes," Himmel whispered. "She went down with dirty clothes."

"Who the fuck are you talking to, you disgusting creature?" Tanran seethed.

Himmel growled in response, but did not make a move.

"The only disgusting creature here is you."

Tanran turned back towards the Jedi, and saw that her eyes were narrowed.

"Oh ho- you're starting to sound like you did when we first found you!" he snapped, "Is your stay with your current master causing you to revert to your old ways?"

He grabbed her by the chin and licked his lips.

She in turn froze.

No…

"I'm thinking that this time away from your true master has been bad for your training," he explained, while his smile disappeared and his features turned dark. "Maybe it's about time that I see what all of the fuss is about."

Before he could make a move in grabbing her hair, he felt a barrel of metal touch the right side of his head.

"Maybe it's about time that you got your drunk-ass out of here," Himmel hissed, "before I turn your head inside out."

Tanran didn't hesitate in attacking the guard. He used the Force to throw the noghri into the kitchen, where he landed on top of the table and growled from pain.

The twi'lek got up fast and made his way towards Himmel with his lightsaber powered. He went to stab the stunned noghri but was unable to move any further.

He stood, paralyzed and physically shocked, when Uriael had grasped a specific area at the top of his left lekku. His lightsaber dropped from his hand and powered down.

"Having part of your brain grow into such soft tissue as your lekku is a disadvantage that you can never seem to remember, Tanran-"

She pinched it even harder and he grew weak in the legs.

"-especially when part of your primary motor cortex is within them. I'm certain that I've explained this to you once before through similar circumstances."

"You…bitch!"

She pressed harder and his legs gave out completely beneath him while his arms became flaccid.

"Do yourself a favor, Tanran, and leave this room. Stay away from here and maybe you won't have to deal with having another broken hand… or worse. You're drunk and you're not thinking clearly or rationally on the consequences of your actions."

She lightened the hold that she had on his lekku and he started to feel movement return to his fingers and toes.

"Please, leave," she requested without a change in her serious tone of voice.

Uriael released him completely and began to walk over to Himmel to see if he had any injuries from hitting the table. He had gotten up and looked up at her.

His black eyes grew wide and he had almost yelled something out to her before the twi'lek grabbed her by her upper arm and threw her, with a lot of power, into the glass screen.

It cracked under the force of the throw and she broke through. She was able to gain control of herself in the air and landed on top of the balustrade in a crouched stance. The sun was up high but off center.

Before she had time to think of how bad the situation had become, the drunken mad man had already begun to run after her with his lightsaber. His face was filled with rage when he attempted to hack into her neck.

She grabbed a hold of his forearm with both of her hands just in time to not get killed. However, the speed at which he had moved and the fact that he weighed more than her caused the both of them to fall off of the 23rd story of the building.

Uriael let go of him and decided that that moment was not a good time for her to pretend that she was unattached to the Force. She made it to ten meters before she opened her hands in front of her and pushed with all of her might.

Her body slowed down at an unnoticeable pace until she dropped onto the ground in a roll. She felt that she had gained some scrapes and bruises but nothing more. After moving to get up, she brought her attention to her surroundings.

A few of the guards and a few clones stopped whatever it was they were doing in the hanger and moved slowly towards her, with blasters in hand.

She put her hands up, with a mixture of calm and anxiety running through her. The sound of the loud Tanran had started on her left.

Ok… he's out of the room. She's safe for now.

A soft sigh escaped her lips and she got onto her knees. She saw Commander Lande move forward through the small crowd, receiving looks of annoyance from a couple of the guards.

He had his own blaster in hand, and also had it aimed for the Jedi who seemed to be surrendering. Both of his eyes watched her and were narrowed, despite the fact that his left was obviously blind.

"What are you doing out, girl?" he whispered in a harsh tone.

"I didn't choose to be out," she stated honestly. "I was thrown out."

"And who would be stupid enough to do that?"

Uriael turned to her left, and glanced in the direction of the man who was still wiping himself off with a lightsaber ignited in his grasp. He had started to walk over to where the group had gathered and spit on the ground when Commander Lande looked at him questioningly.

"And what do you want?" he asked.

"I want to know why the prisoner is out of the room she is assigned to," he explained.

"Because I want her to be," he answered with a smile. "I was hoping to play with her a little before Maul got back. Almost everyone else has been given an opportunity-"

"Save it. You are causing more trouble than you are worth."

"Better to be worth something than nothing, you wretch!" he insulted, immaturely.

The noghri couldn't care less about being bullied by an adult male over the same stuff complained about over and over again. He went and grabbed the Jedi's upper right arm to help her up and wanted nothing more than to get her back inside and guarded.

As he began to wonder what happened to his young son, who was stationed in Lord Maul's quarters, he stopped when a lightsaber was placed threateningly between himself and the Jedi.

"What are you doing, Tanran?!" Commander Lande snarled while his scarred face showed anger.

Uriael had stopped paying attention to the scene when she looked closely at the colors within the saber. She couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed it in the room earlier and she was shocked and ashamed all at once.

The lightsaber in his grasp had a white core and a light bluish-violet edge. It had clean edges and only projected a soft purring noise. It also wasn't very hot, but instead warm when close to the skin. It was nowhere near as deep and beautiful as Mace Windu's famous lightsaber, but Uriael was able to appreciate the subtlety of color. The handle was very much like her master's lightsaber in appearance; a simple, straight cylinder which was versatile in its use.

She remembered when she had found a crystal that she knew would be perfect as a primary while in a cave on Ilum. Because she wasn't ready to actually construct her lightsaber, she kept the clear crystal with her always so that when the day finally came, she would be well prepared.

When she was sixteen years old, Shaak Ti had asked to meet her in one of the meditation chambers at the temple. Since Master Ti had become a member of the council a year earlier after Master Yaddle's death, Uriael had trained with her to a lesser degree than she had when they lived together for years on Togruta.

Her master had never openly showed concern for her in terms of overly emotionally derived acts, such as hugs or worry. However, she did care for her and during that particular meeting she had asked her if she felt she was cast aside by her master.

…

"Master… no. You should know well enough that I am very proud of your promotion. I always have been."

"Certainly, though, your situation cannot be easy?"

Uriael had thought about it and they both sat in comfortable silence as she thought of the right thing to say. Master Ti did love to ask questions and pose problems.

"Master, it could be a lot worse. Right now I train under you, Master Tiin, and I get to go on missions with the likes of Master Unduli and Master Kenobi. I consider myself fortunate, despite the fact that I am not with you at all times."

Shaak Ti rarely smiled, but would do so mostly in the presence of those she was close to. She thought of Uriael as a younger sister and never had a moment where she was unable to accept her for who she was, even when they would occasionally disagree.

She smiled for her and touched her briefly on the hand.

"I am proud of you, Uriael. You have grown so much since your uncle and I first met you; not just as a Jedi, but as a woman. And now I hear from Barriss Offee that you have taken a liking to healing?"

Uriael nodded and explained, "I do find much peace in being able to help those in need without a lightsaber. I am still going over anatomical differences between races, but I think that I may have found a calling of sorts."

"The Force will always guide you down your chosen path, Uriael. I can sense that you will save many lives indeed."

Shaak Ti then looked away from her padawan and her face gave a slight troubled expression. Uriael concentrated on what her master was about to say.

"I also sense that people like you will be needed in the not too distant future. I am not sure as to the extent of these feelings, but I do feel a disturbance in the Force that is ever growing and dark," she stopped, and glanced back to her padawan. "I do not want to impose on you or ever make you feel as if you are still a child, but I do like to check on you."

Uriael nodded her head in understanding. She would never tell her master this, but she always thought of the times they had spent together as some of her more cherished moments; even if she was acting as a guardian of sorts.

"Also, I'd like to say happy birthday, my padawan."

She opened her red hand and in her white palm was a light, yet pretty violet crystal.

Uriael didn't know what to say, except…

"Purple, Master Ti?"

"When I happened by it while checking up on the crystal cave on Ilum, I immediately thought of you. By the Force, I saw a vision of you constructing your lightsaber. I knew then that this was meant to be yours."

She opened up one of Uriael's hands and placed the crystal within it. Uriael felt an instant connection with the gem.

"It also reminded me of your hair."

Uriael gave a smirk at her Master's teasing ways, and thanked her for making sure that her lightsaber would always match her…

…

She spent a month meditating in solitude with both of her crystals. Her uncle, Master Saesee Tiin, would bring water and foods by her door at least once a day for the few minutes that she would take her break. Not until her primary and focusing crystals were perfectly transformed did she stop, and only a week later she constructed her lightsaber under the guidance of her friend and brother-in-arms, Anakin Skywalker.

Uriael knew her saber inside and out and had thought of it as an integral part of her own person. She knew that if the drunken fool had tried to harm her with her saber, it would short out just before it touched her flesh.

This did not change the fact, however, that it would not be as loyal to someone else, such as Commander Lande, who seemed to have gotten into a shouting match with Tanran.

"I don't give a damn as to who you're friends with- you try and touch her one more time and I will shoot you."

"HAH! Try and hit me with your stupid blaster and I will block it with my saber!"

She refrained from glaring at Tanran for saying such a thing with her right there. The idiot may not have even realized that it was hers.

Azazul… gave him my lightsaber…

Himmel made his way into the scene from the hanger and had his blaster pointed at Tanran as soon as he saw him staring his father down. He shoved past a couple of Human guards and completely dismissed the bald-headed Wylan, who had a whip in hand and an eye on the noghri.

Uriael could not help but sense that something terrible was going to happen as Tanran began to back off. He shut the saber down and laughed at the two noghri.

"Alright! Alright, I'll behave. Now why don't you put those blasters away before you hurt yourselves?" Tanran asked with a lilt in his voice.

The young noghri kept his blaster on his target, untrusting of the twi'lek.

"When you are out of my sight is when I'll put it away."

Tanran nodded his head and backed off even more. He seemed almost sober with his decision to quit his antics.

The older noghri let a sigh escape from his nostrils and looked back to the Jedi.

"Are you thinking of giving me trouble as well?"

"Like I said before, I did not choose to be down here-"

Uriael sensed the barrage of blaster bolts headed in their direction and pushed both Lande and Himmel out of the way before they were hit. She herself twist flipped and evaded seven bolts and then crouched low to the ground to dodge two more.

Through the distraction, Tanran had switched back to the offensive and brought the saber out again. He ran at her with the weapon only to be tackled down by the older noghri.

Himmel jumped back up to his feet just in time to defend himself against two of the guards, who each pulled out a vibrosword in place of their blasters. It was clear that the guards had no proper discipline in melee combat with their weapons, and persisted to making hacking motions towards their opponent.

Uriael watched as both noghri were able to keep up with the challenge of the fight; Lande had been able to evade Tanran's attempts with a lightsaber and Himmel handled himself with much more ease with two men who were armed.

Just as Himmel had sent both men toppling to the ground, he felt a sharp pain in the middle of his back. He hissed in annoyance and turned to see the guard Wylan posed as if he had just used his whip.

Uriael knew well of his vibro-whip, which could cut through the armor of a clone-trooper and cause immense damage to flesh.

"What the Hell, you prick!?" the young noghri shouted, aggravated while trying to reach his newly acquired wound.

"You aren't in charge here, noghri," the man stated in a cold and deep voice. "You and your kin need to learn this!"

Wylan went to attack the younger male once again, but he had easily dodged the attack. The Human, who was large in muscular strength, brought it back, uninterested in the protests made by two of the troopers behind him; they had started to run into the fight to hopefully bring a stop to the madness, and were unlucky to feel the crack of the whip ricochet against their necks.

He made his move once again, only to find that the noghri were quite a talented race in terms of melee combat. Himmel not only dodged the whip's lethal end, but had caught it and wrapped the first third of its length around his right forearm. The blade cut his wrist but he paid no mind. He overpowered the Human and snapped the hilt of the whip out of his hold.

He had gained a weapon as well as the upper hand, and stood as tall as he could while slightly out of breath.

About 20 clones were now on scene and had their blasters ready. Since the two noghri were the ones left in charge, they proceeded to aim their weapons instead at the other guards, including four who had yet to enter the battle. Those four made sure their hands were visibly distant from their sheathed vibroweapons.

Himmel made sure to kick the vibroswords away from the two downed guards and kept an eye on Wylan, who seemed only slightly bothered by the situation.

Uriael turned her attention to Lande, who was now doing his best to stay resilient against two lightsabers; Tanran had pulled the second one out, which was blue with a white core. The hilt was slightly longer than her saber, and she was able to recognize it by striped cylindrical marks.

Aayla…

Her body filled with adrenaline and she ran as fast as she could towards the two men, but found that she was too late to prevent what happened next.

Tanran had used the blue lightsaber and surprised Lande when he sliced through his left thigh. The older man lost balance and was in shock as he began to fall down.

Damned blind spot…

That was his last thought before he looked over to his son, who now stood on edge as he watched the twi'lek darksider use the purple-toned saber to almost completely cut off his father's head.

Uriael collided with tremendous force into the twi'lek, with wide and uncharacteristically angered eyes. Her hands were able to get a hold of Aayla Secura's blue saber and tossed it to the other side of the landing.

"Get off of me, Schutta!"

As she went to grab a hold of her own saber, which was in his left hand, she heard a battle cry from behind.

Himmel had dropped the whip and leaped at the both of them, his movement violently twisted by the loss of his father. He shoved her aside and commenced in pounding into the other male.

The noghri was able to get several debilitating hits in before Tanran had found a moment in which he was able to hold both of his hands against the younger man's chest. He then created a powerful and uncontrolled Force push and caused both Himmel and Uriael to be thrown into the air.

The clone-troopers, who had begun to run towards point their blaster-rifles at the dark Jedi, had been thrown back as well. Some were slammed into the ground and others were cast close to the edge of the landing, all at different areas.

Himmel landed on his back and lost his breath right in front of the hanger. He saw nothing but black for a few seconds and felt tremendous pain in his ribs and found it hard to move.

Uriael had almost been tossed off of the side into traffic, but had grabbed the edge of the landing just at the right moment.

Though her heart raced she did her best to make slow respirations. She was able to prevent her mind from scattering as she saw Tanran make his way over to the Himmel, all while laughing sadistically.

"You stupid freak! YOU don't stand a chance against the Force!"

He then kicked the noghri in the left side of his torso, which caused him to hiss in pain.

At this time, Wylan came over with his vibro-whip once again in his grasp. The two guards who had previously assaulted the young noghri had gathered their swords and started to kick the rifles away from the troopers.

The two clones that had been cut by the whip began to have a shouting match with the four guards who had since brought their weapons out in loyalty of their superiors. Blasters were pointed at those who were supposed to be allies and tensions ran high.

Out of the building came Volutta who had wasted no time in screaming at the guards, calling them "idiots" and "retards" for causing such a mess. She also yelled out at Tanran, assuring him that he was the biggest dumbass of them all.

"YOU IDIOT! You couldn't control yourself for even a few days? And then you had to go and kill her!"

"SHUT UP!" he yelled back, his red eyes wide with annoyance.

One trooper held her back as she tried to make her way into the scene, despite her protests and curses.

Wylan smiled at the downed noghri, all the while dangling the tip of the whip in his face.

"Aren't you lucky to be a test subject for my weapon's upgrade," he commented.

"What… are you talking about?" the bluish-gray man asked in a weakened voice.

"Well, I was able to find a batch of poison from Yu'shaa's lab."

Uriael froze while trying to pull herself up onto the ledge.

By the Force…

One of the afflicted troopers stilled and put a hand on the other's shoulder armor. His brother ceased in yelling and began to pay attention to what the guard had begun to say.

"It's from his staff. Apparently the poison, when exposed to skin takes close to a full day to kill the afflicted person. However, when entered through means of puncturing, it is nearly instantaneous."

He prepared his whip and cracked it against the ground.

"Tell me, does it feel numb where I hit you?"

Himmel tried to move but was unable to. Not only was his back numbed, but his right wrist was also. He saw that it had become swollen and had begun to bleed incessantly.

The two troopers had both only then noticed, through the excitement, that their necks were swollen and numbed as well. Their allies, with blasters still in hand, eyed their wounds in worry.

"You… you're sick…" Himmel stated in alarm.

"I think I'm going to have fun with you while you can't move that body of yours," Wylan hinted while preparing to launch the vibro-whip at the exposed and paralyzed man who shut his eyes in response.

Though Himmel certainly heard the whip hit something fleshy, he did not feel the attack. Through his now raspy breaths, he opened his eyes, and was not able to contemplate what he saw above him.

Tanran's eyes grew large and his facial expression appeared dumbfounded. Both the troopers scattered around the landing and those grouped within the hanger watched on, along with their two brothers who had begun to lose balance. The other guards and Volutta also appeared to be stunned.

There above Himmel was the Jedi, whose body hovered over him by means of support from her hands and knees. She now displayed a mean and bloodied laceration on her lower back.

Himmel looked up at her in disbelief and her face showed that the attack hurt just as terrible as it sounded.

"Why…"

"Fine, you Jedi-whore- I've had enough of the drama surrounding your existence!" Wylan bellowed while continuing his attack, now centered on her.

The noise the whip made when coming into contact with her back was a loud crack heard by all of those standing behind the scene. The only one that heard the ripping sound of skin being torn was Himmel, who continued to stare up at the Jedi, watching as her face clenched from the impact.

Though he tried to concentrate, he began to lose his breath and the pain in his chest was severe. It felt as if his muscles had compressed against his lungs.

"It's the paralysis from the venom. Your diaphragm is losing strength."

He blinked up at the female, who clearly had tears emptying from her eyes. He was sure that he saw blood splatter from behind, yet the voice in his head sounded calm.

"Can… you hear me right now?" he asked, his basic still coming out whispered even in his mind.

"Yes."

She opened her eyes and looked down on him.

"Why are you doing this…"

"You don't deserve to be made a spectacle of before you die."

She was honest and gentle through thought.

"We've done nothing for you," he tried to explain. "We've tossed you to the wolves."

Her expression softened, and Himmel had never seen a human as beautiful as she was at that moment.

"No one deserves to be treated this way…"

Apparently the last attack made was the worst; the whip's blade had gotten caught in her shoulder and a large piece of her flesh was torn from her.

She nearly lost her strength and her forehead hit Himmel's with a thud. He had begun to lose consciousness and his lungs and throat burned.

"I'm putting you to sleep, Himmel," she informed, softly. "You won't feel any more pain. I promise."

His eyes became heavy and he had a hard time keeping them open, even when they filled with tears. The relief of pain only brought on darkness, but for some reason, he was unafraid.

"Thank you," he whispered, while thinking of his father and his brother.

His eyes closed permanently, and his breathing calmed down.

By this time, Tanran had pulled Wylan away from the Jedi to stop him from further "ruining" Azazul's slave. The two trooper's who had by a lack of luck been accidentally struck by the whip had since fallen to the ground, having lost their ability to move and almost completely lost their ability to breathe.

Uriael could feel their pain. It upset her tremendously.

Despite the pain that she felt, she lifted her hands from the ground and repositioned herself to Himmel's right side. She sat on her knees and felt her blood trickling down onto the soles of her feet.

She bowed her head and shut her eyes in thought. She paid no mind to the argument shared between Tanran and Wylan, or the fact that nearly everyone around her had become anxious as to the outcome of the situation.

She instead thought about the twi'lek woman who had spent time with her the past few days. Imara was always kind to her whenever they would meet and had never once spoken of herself or her problems. She gave all of her attention to Uriael and was able to empathize with her situation.

She never complained about her own issues, even though Uriael was aware of how sadistic Tanran was and could tell that he had started to threaten her with her life and the innocence of the youngling. Imara was raped time and time again, but was able to keep strong to protect the youngling and to not impose onto anyone else.

Uriael then thought of the girl hiding in her room, because she would be used by Tanran just as Imara had been and just as Uriael had been used by Azazul. An eight-year-old girl should not have been attractive in such a way to anyone.

Anyone!

She then thought of Lande, who was killed for following orders and because his species was not considered to be up to par with the others. Everyone in that place thought of them as nothing more than sub-sentient freaks or creatures that were only useful as slaves. Everyone in that place was evil and spent their days finding joy and entertainment at the expense of others.

The young man lying at her knees had tear marks that had dropped to the cement, which was wet with the blood seeping from his wounds and her own. Could anything other than a sentient being cry when someone who they thought would hate them spared them from a painful, horrific death; for showing them mercy?

No…

Uriael heard one of the younger guards telling Wylan that he had struck the two clone-troopers, who were consciously aware of their impending doom.

"Boy, there are thousands more where they came from. They're expendable."

Expendable?

She then thought of herself.

She knew that she wouldn't die from the venom that Wylan had laced his vibrowhip with. She had been captured because of that poison having put her into respiratory arrest. The only reason why she was alive was because Yu'shaa, the scariest being that she had ever come into contact with, had offered her an antidote after Azazul had nearly begged him to sustain her life.

Yu'shaa ended up agreeing, only because he thought that she was an interesting being herself. He figured that he could use her as a test subject for many of his experiments and inventions. She could tell that he didn't care as to whose side she was on or whose side Azazul was on.

She then saw Azazul, grinning at her while she was placed into her cell after being interrogated for eight hours straight. He seemed not to care that she was not giving him information in regards to any hideouts.

He grinned at her after he had taken her virginity by force, and stayed satisfied when her shocked form had been dragged out of the room by Farkas and one of the noghri; Lande. After she was placed in the cell, she could barely hear the older noghri hiss out, "This is sick, Farkas."

Farkas agreed with a silent nod.

So many thoughts and memories had begun to poison her mind. Instead of paralyzing her muscles, it was as if the venom was attacking her in a different way. Where Himmel and the two clones had begun to have the air sucked away from them, she had all good intentions sucked away from her.

She turned the palms of her hands over and saw the impression of the concrete's unevenness on her skin.

She thought of the fact that she wished that she had never received the antidote.

She wished she had been right next to her friend, Barriss Offee, as her body was pulverized by the AT-TE's blast. She wished that she could have turned to ashes with her and been carried off by the breeze of Felucia.

Instead, she was left to the demons of this world. The thought of the Force allowing her to go through such torture, as well as so many others, including those within that building caused her to become vengeful; she became angry with what she had fought for, for so long.

She hated those bastards who had brought pain to her. She hated them with every single fiber of her being.

She could feel Tanran come towards her with her lightsaber ignited.

"I'm going to end this- Azazul will have to find someone else to knock up."

The blade swung through the air at such a fast pace, that people in the hanger screamed for him to stop. It sounded as if some of the clones, a couple of the guards, and Volutta had thought of the consequences of her death, whereas the twi'lek was too drunk on alcohol and blood to care.

They never considered the consequences of her surviving.

The blade powered off just before it hit her neck, and she opened her eyes when Tanran cursed.

"What the Hell?"

She grabbed his wrist with one hand and he was unable to shake her off. The strength she exuded had surprised him. It also frightened him.

"You know what your problem is, Tanran?"

The way she spoke was dark and calm.

"You have never felt true pain in your life."

She turned her head towards him and her face stayed emotionless. She did not show signs of agony in the slightest. The look she held caused Tanran to become momentarily sobered.

Her yellow eyes were bright and no longer gentle. These people did not deserve her gentle nature.

"I think that it's time that you did."

She let go of his wrist and grabbed a hold of his left knee. With her other hand formed into an open palm, she hit him in the side of his calf, faster than any of the people who witnessed could see.

His leg snapped and the bottom half flopped around, unnaturally. He screamed and fell over, unable to understand what had just happened, as his leg sprayed blood onto the ground.

The lightsaber flew out of his grasp and into the hand that had since released his now physically useless knee. She eyed it in contemplation, wondering if she would use it at all.

Several guards ran towards her in instinct, and she merely waved her free hand without even sparing them a glance. They all flew backward into whatever was in their way, including wall, person, and any ship that was parked.

The cries that the male twi'lek let lose were torturous and borderline screeches. The sounds that reverberated around the property began to annoy Uriael.

She stood up and the other lightsaber had flown into her other hand. Aayla Secura's lightsaber was larger than her own but light. She gathered them both into one hand.

She walked towards the crippled man and her face remained the same; uncaring, unimpressed.

Apathetic.

Despite her vicious wounds, she had moved as if there was no harm done to her small frame. At this moment, the pain that she felt seemed to have given her greater strength. She no longer felt sad or hopeless.

She was enraged.

The sight of his leg bent at an irregular angle didn't bother her as she said, "Why are you crying, Tanran?"

She read his mind and her eyes narrowed.

"You think you don't deserve this?"

She could feel Wylan run at her again, and she shot a glance towards him.

She then put her free hand in his direction and created a fist. He stopped moving immediately and cringed as he was slammed into the ground.

"I'll be over to see you in a bit, Wylan."

Though her voice was soft, the threat behind it was easily interpreted by the bald guard. She turned her attention back to the twi'lek.

"Tanran, you are one of the most vile and pathetic people that I have ever met," she degraded. "To think that you would need to find sex from a child because you couldn't control your previous slave…"

She put her bare foot right on top of his crotch and then slammed it down.

The scream he let lose this time was high-pitched and animalistic.

"Would you like to know what it is like to be pounded into against your will?"

She slammed it down again.

"By someone you hate?"

Uriael continued to slam her foot down onto his privates, not distracted by his pathetic whimpering and everyone else's disgust. She then moved above him and crouched down over his chest to grab his face.

"Looks like you're going to have to remain celibate for a while."

She then slammed his head into the ground for good measure, breaking the concrete underneath it.

She left him there with a broken head and manhood and focused on Wylan, who had turned angry at her for becoming violent.

"You're angry at my violence?" she asked, while blood trickled lightly down her back to the ground. "Well, aren't you a hypocritical bastard."

She stood a meter away from him and twitched her hand.

The sound of a crack echoed and he roared from the sudden pain. His knees had lost the ability to properly sustain the weight of everything above them and he toppled to the ground.

"You have sentenced three people to death today without even realizing what it feels like," she paused briefly. "When someone's body has become paralyzed to the point of muscle paralysis, it really and truly does hurt."

She caused another rib to break and then flew her hand around once again to rebound several blaster bolts. The troopers and the guards had begun to open fire, and Volutta was yelling out orders for them to do so.

Uriael decidedly powered her lightsaber and twirled it in such a way that all of the lasers changed direction and headed towards their creators.

As all of the men were too busy dodging the blasts, Uriael had ample time to finish what she had started. She broke every one of the ribs connected to his sternum and watched as he writhed and displayed tremors in all extremities.

"What you did to Himmel and the two troopers…"

She focused the Force around his lungs, which were trying their hardest to collect as much air as they could from his spasm-like breaths, sparing his heart on purpose.

"…This is what it feels like."

Her hand once again turned into a fist and his lungs ruptured inside of his chest.

She turned and walked away from his squirming, dying form and stood firmly in front of the large group of people that had finally commenced in their firing on her.

She force-grabbed the other lightsaber and turned it on as it twirled into her other hand. She used both to expertly shield herself from the blasts. She walked forward, without hesitation or fear, and moved closer and closer to those firing on her.

When any of the clones took a pause in pulling their triggers, they were sent flying into the wall of the hanger. She picked them off, one by one, minimizing the resistance.

The two troopers who had been poisoned stayed where they had fallen, and could not help but to try and gasp for air.

She walked towards them and her brows furrowed over as she sent the tip of each saber into the back of their necks. Their movements stilled and they no longer felt any pain.

The lightsabers moved in front of her immediately after and continued to defend her. After a few minutes, there were no available clones left that were still conscious or physically able.

As the six guards that were left ceased their fire, she powered down the blue lightsaber and shoved it into the top of her leggings, leaving her own on. She took a look at each of them and judged their thoughts.

Two of them ran at her. She saw that they were the same that had taken the initiative to attack Himmel not long ago. She effortlessly evaded the blades without using her weapon. Her movements were fluid and she danced around them smoothly.

One of them became frustrated and left himself open and vulnerable when he positioned the sword over his head. She bent her knees to decrease the height that she was positioned in and sent her hand into his stomach with fingers pointed.

He dropped his blade behind him and his eyes bulged as a mixture of substances were forced from his mouth; blood, brown bile, and brownish red tissue splattered on the ground behind Uriael.

As he fell, she made the same movement into the other man's right flank while he turned to run. He dropped and screamed at the sensation caused by his kidney having exploded within him.

The last four guards ran at her with a mixture of emotions and vibroblades held high. She didn't even consider where she would wound them and sent her hands against their bodies without restraint. Three had fallen and only one remained.

He was younger than the others and barely stood as his legs shook uncontrollably. His forehead was concentrated with sweat and he was obviously petrified.

"You're new, aren't you?"

She stopped his movement and his body grew stiff like a board under the will of the Force. Her eyes met his and there was a brief second in which she felt bad for what she was about to do to him. But the darkness easily overcame whatever merciful intentions tried to manifest within her.

The amount of time that it took for her to concentrate on ripping 42 percent of his muscles into uselessness was only a few seconds; it took only the first one to break for him to shout in suffering.

She released her hold on him and ignored his fragmented crying as he fell into a loosened heap. As she looked over at Volutta, who appeared as if she was about to lose her mind, she didn't feel like wasting her time on the pitiful female.

"You… are not worth it."

"How about myself?"

Uriael's eyes narrowed and she turned to find Yu'shaa standing out in the middle of the landing, observing the damage that she had done to Azazul's men. He was not upset; only curious and observant towards the scene.

"I heard the commotion from the overhead communicators. Apparently you've been busy, Jeedai, and are able to use this… Force," he concluded, while allowing his black and blue eyes to wander over Wylan's corpse.

His accent was unlike anything that Uriael had ever heard before. But the fact that she could not sense him through the Force was much more troubling.

"I was growing bored the past couple of months, to be honest. Though I am proud of the inhibitors that I created, I wonder if I should have made them weaker in strength… just to make things interesting."

He pondered on the young noghri whose eyes were shut and who had been poisoned with his own supply.

"It is quite unnerving to know that the stupid human was in my laboratory. I am surprised that my amphistaff did not attack him as soon as he stepped foot into the room," he complained. "No matter, though- you certainly took care of him."

She moved towards him after powering her saber down, leaving it within her hold. She knew that the lightsaber would be useless against the strange attire that he wore.

"I'm about to make your stay much less boring," she finally replied while walking towards the left most edge of the landing outside of the hanger.

"I appreciate that, Jeedai," he grinned while his blue eyes searched over her. "It will be fun to witness Rokujou scramble about when he returns from his mission."

Uriael cocked an eyebrow at him and wondered briefly where that man could have been. She had not the opportunity to punish him for his deeds.

"I can't wait to see what this Darth Maul does in response."

She faced the traffic, her eyes still blazing bright yellow from the dark side that had consumed her.

"Me neither."

She dove into the traffic and fell past all of the speeders, hoping that she would be dead before she made it to the bottom.

---

After the video stopped and a menu with all of the folders had appeared on the wall, Farkas went over and turned the projection application off on his data-pad. He stayed quiet and waited for Darth Maul to make the first move or to say a single word.

The youngling had decided to shut her eyes and cover her ears when the images of Lande's head being cut off had shown. She would occasionally look up briefly before shutting her eyes again, until she saw that the wall was no longer being used as a screen.

Maul's sight remained glued to the wall, as if he was unable to let go of the images that were still fresh within his sight and mind. At some point during the footage, he had leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees in concentration.

There were a multitude of things within these files that had added fuel to the fire brewing within him over the previous day's events. Tanran's actions were enough to have him court marshaled as well as the guard Wylan. Maul was so sure about wanting to tear the twi'lek's skin off of his hide that the surprise of the Jedi's action against him turned the fire into ice…very cold, very bitter ice.

She had started off maintaining a defensive position, not only for herself but for the noghri as well. The girl had even gone as far as to use her own back as a shield for Himmel. After she had leapt off of the building, he had finally died.

After she had knocked him out, something had changed within her. Her movements became sinister and calculating, and her overall demeanor had turned to stone. She even used words as a form of torment.

He knew what it was. He could almost feel the power of the dark side take over the midi-chlorians that made up her whole being when she attacked Tanran.

The development, in his opinion, was so important that he wanted to punch a wall out to vent the pent up adrenaline that had his pulse racing.

As he thought about what his next plan of action should consist of, something within his bedroom had begun to make itself known. It was light and warm and he was certain that if it did not stop that one of the idiots several levels below might be able to tell that someone who professionally willed the light side of the Force was in his room.

He got up immediately and stomped off into the room and stilled at the sight before him.

---

Morichro was an interesting use of the Force that many had not trained in, despite the fact that it had been known for thousands of years. The last known master of the technique was Jedi Master Yaddle, who had become one with the Force several years before.

When Uriael had found the information on how to perform the technique within three holocrons, she knew that the High Council had prohibited its use because of the fatality it could cause. However, they had not disallowed anyone from investigating its recorded history.

She was glad that she could at least read about it, for the whole process fascinated her beyond anything. The slowing down of the body's process to the point that it should have failed only to be prevented because of the Force itself was incredible. She, along with other healers, was even allowed to perform it on stone mites that had infested an area of Coruscant called Kishi.

However, she didn't realize she would actually perform it on herself when she had studied it somewhat regularly for three years…

When she had dropped from Azazul's property, she thought that she would be dead long before she hit the bottom of Coruscant. The likability that at least one car out of thousands would not hit her was near impossible. She merely shut her eyes and let herself fall.

Her impending doom drew near the closer she came to solid ground. At that moment, she held onto no regrets about her decision to die.

But, when she was 100 meters from the bottom, she sensed him.

She immediately forced her body from head first into feet first and began to slow herself down to not become a liquefied puddle of remains. She was far enough to where no one was able to see her simply land on her two feet as if she had only jumped several centimeters rather than several meters.

The smooth surface of the bottom of Coruscant was cool on her bare feet. It was shadowed over due to the sun's inability to shine down at the level and the only available light came from the cantinas and other clubs in the higher levels of the underworld.

Uriael looked in a specific direction which she guessed would lead her to the undercity near the Senate building.

She ran, not affected by the pain on her back or the pain on her bare feet whenever she would acquire a cut from old mechanical litter she stepped over. There was an occasional cold breeze that would hit her in the face as she got closer to her destination.

When the smell of mold and rotting flesh hit her nostrils, she could sense his presence stronger than before. There weren't any cthons in this new area at the moment, but she knew they weren't far away and would stay close to whatever smelled like the dead.

As she walked into an area concentrated with disposed of droids and once living sentient beings, she nearly froze at the sight of the one untouched person in the pile.

His dark brown skin had turned a purplish green and his cheeks were sharp due to a lack of muscle tone. He was still completely clothed and there was still an unsettling amount of the Force that settled around him.

If she had not currently been so consumed with the dark side of the Force, she probably would have collapsed from such a switch of emotion within her. Vengeance quickly turned into complete sadness and remorse.

There wasn't much thought about picking up Master Windu's dead, yet preserved form. Even though he had been dead for more than three months, his muscles and skeletal frame were intact enough to where she could simply sling a single arm- the one with a hand still there- over her shoulders.

She then ran, instinctively, towards the place that had been her home when she was a young child. There was no strain from using her muscles to their full capacity, and she even was able to strengthen them. The pain from her wounds seemed to power her body's resolve.

What would have taken someone a couple of hours took mere minutes for Uriael. She reached the temple, and the sun had begun to set on the city. She walked through while carrying the Jedi councilman towards the elevators. She was only slightly fazed by the amount of grief she felt from the dead man she carried, the lives that were taken within the building, and the coldness of the building itself.

The elevators were shut off, but she knew how to power one up during the rare instance of a power outage. All of the Jedi had gone through the protocols once they reached a padawan level; a lever connected to several power crystals, within the construction of the elevator wall. Almost like turning on a lightsaber.

She made her way into one, while using the Force to gather some wood and other burnable debree that had been created through destruction, and it automatically made its way up into the council chamber. She then placed him on the ground, gently, and began to create a place to give him and his body a proper funeral.

After she placed him on top of the wood, she decided that it would be too sacrilegious to continue while under the spell of the dark side. When she began to concentrate on the light side of the Force, she found that it wouldn't be an easy transition.

Her body began to shake as if the temperature had suddenly dropped twenty degrees. Breathing normally was almost entirely out of the question. She screamed and sobbed from not only the horrendous pain that she was in, but because of the psychological strain she was currently slammed with.

Every fear, from childhood until that moment, surfaced and grew in strength with every tight and discomforting breath she took. Every moment of grief came back to light and filled her with so much sadness, that she could not stand it; when she was forced to leave her parents and brother at the age of five, when she found out her mother had been killed years after, when she felt her Jedi brethren being killed throughout the galaxy, and that first night she was sent into Azazul's chambers…

And the regret… the regret left her hating herself.

Even after letting go of the darkness, she was not relieved. Physically, she was a mess. She had lost so much blood and it hit her like a ton of bricks. She would probably die, soon.

I…I did all of… that.

She had trouble standing, let alone breathing. The weight of everything that she had done to those people was close to destroying her very soul. Who was she to blame the Force for the actions of evil beings? How could she forsake her life for revenge and blood?

Uriael did her best to calm down enough to place Aayla Secura's lightsaber in Mace Windu's single hand. She then took her own saber and let the powered on blade rest against a thin piece of wood. After a few moments, the radiating heat created a slight flame.

She stumbled backwards as the flame grew larger and sizzled its way to the flesh that awaited it.

"I'm sorry…" she tried to get out.

She slowly made her way over to what was her master's seat and sat down behind it, to look out across Coruscant. She was close to losing consciousness from all of the blood loss added with the exhaustion from heaving out sobs. She reached over the back of the chair to drop her lightsaber on the seat.

Uriael did not want to further taint what was once a tool of peace with the undeserving hands of the monster she had allowed herself to turn into. Her death did not deserve a proper funeral or cremation ceremony.

She would rot in this chamber, slowly, with no one to bother over her. Maybe she would die of infection, or simply starvation and dehydration. Whatever the case was, she left it up to chance and focused on her brain.

As she began to dip into the state of Morichro, she thought of her father… and her brother… and her late mother. She thought of playing with her older brother, who loved her so endearingly, while her parents watched. Even her father, usually a stoic iktochi man, gave his children loving smiles.

She then reached out to try and touch the two that were still alive through thought. Just before losing consciousness, she focused on her memories of her father and her brother.

I'm sorry… I've failed.

Uriael blacked out and her head fell forward as if she had died.

…

When she woke up, the first thing she noticed was that she was on a bed. Not just a small mattress on a floor and not a couch, and she certainly was not in the council chamber in the temple where she had last remembered being.

This bed was immensely comfortable and despite the fact that she was lying flat on her front side, she could easily fall back to sleep without a care.

But the fact that she had hoped to be left for dead the day before had lessened her appetite for pleasures such as comfort.

She opened her eyes and looked around the room she was in. She had never been inside of this room before, but she knew where she was.

She noticed that there was an IV infusion currently entering her right arm, and she followed the tubing up to where it was connected to a nearly empty bag of saline. The sound of rain hitting the large, ornate window was thick.

Her eyes were heavy and she shut them out of discomfort. She then tried to lift herself up by pushing against her hands, but found that straightening her back led to a whole new feeling of discomfort.

That was when she remembered the lacerations on her back. There must have been several dressings covering the whole of her posterior torso. She guessed that a wet-to-dry technique was used.

"Are you feeling alright, Ma'am?"

She moved her head to her right and had only then noticed the GH-7 medical analysis unit droid that had been in that room for a little over an hour.

"I'm not sure at the moment," she answered quietly.

"Would you like some assistance?"

"Sure," she allowed, while the droid floated over to her to help her sit up.

She noticed that she was wearing a cream-colored robe backwards; the opening was on her back side so as to allow easy access to her wounds.

Uriael assessed her situation carefully and ascertained that she must have been found by the Sith. She could feel someone consumed by the dark side in the living room as well as two others.

He certainly had been making it a habit to interfere with her life.

The med-droid started to scan her vitals, noting that they had normalized.

She could feel that some of the blood that had been lost on the previous day had almost been completely restored. She felt a lot warmer than she had as well.

"How long was I out, for?"

"Approximately 14 hours."

She sighed.

"I would like to take the dressings off, now."

The droid paused and began to protest.

"Ma'am, the dressings are there to protect the wounds from infection and to promote healing. I strongly suggest that you refrain from-"

The tape had already been stripped off before he could finish. The pads of gauze stayed stuck to the wet gauze within her wounds, which meant that there must have been extensive drainage.

She concentrated herself and began to forcefully pull the gauze packed within her wounds out and placed them all on the floor while being sure to examine at least one of the wet dressings. It was completely bloody and went through to the gauze covering.

"Moderate amount of sanguinous exudate and there is no foul odor," she explained aloud and the med-droid made note of the observation that he agreed with. "How much is it bleeding?"

He moved towards her back and noticed only a minimal amount of active bleeding.

"Around 20 percent of the wounds as a whole are actively bleeding."

She nodded her head and cracked her neck. If she was going to be forced to stay alive for the time being, she did not want to be covered in gauze and tape.

She sat cross-legged on the bed and once again shut her eyes. Her hands rested in her lap and her mind ignored everything except for the indurations on her back.

Let go of everything… ease your mind…

Her body's healing and cellular reconstruction factors were important to focus on.

Platelets… stop the bleeding…

Her platelet count would easily rise through her technique. She had the utmost confidence in that fact and could feel that the bleeding had already started to end.

Faster… faster… heal the muscle…

She also knew that the cells within her muscle fibers would easily begin to multiply, to replace that which was missing or damaged. That wasn't what her issue was at the moment.

The sensation of the lacerated flesh ever so slowly coming together caused her pain; mental and emotional.

… I'm sorry I did it…

The tissues pulled together and healed, as if they had never been damaged in the first place. If only she could heal her soul in the same, simple fashion.

… I didn't realize… the extent of what they had done to me…

"Oh my…" the droid said while he observed the many wounds heal before his robotic eyes.

… I didn't realize… how damaged I've become…

I'm sorry. I am so unbelievably sorry.

She felt the Force wrap around her, as if capturing her from behind in a warm embrace.

"It's OK… everything will be OK…"

Uriael almost shed tears at the sound of her uncle's voice, which soothed her pain even if it was only a momentary relief. She remained unwavering, however, during the sensation of nerve endings being brought back together.

"Master Tiin…Uncle… I could really use guidance…"

The med-droid watched on as the wounds continued to decrease in length, width, and depth; all at once. A light began to appear as well.

"It has always been my greatest belief that you could heal anything…"

The dark room began to take on a greenish-blue hue, from the light that emanated from her back.

"Your potential spans far beyond the realm of physical healing…"

The sound of the door opening did not faze her. If anything, it helped urge her to finish her work.

"You have the ability to heal a person's mind… their spirit…"

Her dermis and epidermis had finally mended. From what the droid could see, there was hardly a trace of any injuries that she may have had.

"You will find a way to heal yourself. And even those around you…"

The light had begun to fade away, but its blanketing warmth remained.

"May the Force be with you, my dear niece…"

Uriael opened her eyes and found that she was very tired from her healing meditation. Due to the speed that she had healed the wounds, it was a reasonable explanation to her exhaustion.

Before she could lean back against the head of the bed to let her body rest, she noticed that she had a small audience within the room, and all eyes were on her.

Maul stood at the front of the group and he began to fold his arms in front of his chest, as was his normal stance. Farkas was behind him and had to straighten his own expression out; he appeared to have been in awe. The youngling stood beside him, her hands pressed firmly against the opening of the doorway.

Something seemed off in terms of how interesting she was at that moment. She felt slightly awkward with how the Sith was staring at her, but at the same time there was something more intended with the look he gave.

"You all look as if you've seen a ghost," she said, gently.

The Sith walked towards the bed and lifted an eyebrow at her.

"No… just a shadow."

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Dun dun DUUUUUUNNNN.

(RIP Ryan Dunn :(...)

So, I have three more things... Firstly, try and guess which part of this made me cry while writing it. No joke, I shed multiple tears...

Secondly, I was wondering out of curiosity the male to female demographics in terms of fans of this story. For research purposes, I'd like to know who is what (MALE/FEMALE). Totally up to you guys to disclose such personal information.

And BTW, you totally have to leave a review to answer either one of these two things. Bwahahahahahaaaaa...

THIRDLY (I stress this with all caps), I would suggest that you add this story to your alerts. Though it is nice to see that I am a favorite author to some or that this is a favorite story, I've noticed that a lot of the fans haven't added "Hurt" to their alerts. I realize that for a few years I went on hiatus and that I may have lost several fans, but even to those that have yet to comment, it can be useful so that you don't have to wait for that one day that you end up perusing Maul-centric fics.

Alright! Hopefully I will get this next one out before or a little bit after this next semester of mine starts up. Thanks for reading!

~MN