I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SO, SO SORRY its been AGES since I updated! I'm not dead, clearly, but even though its the Easter holidays here, I have been given plenty of homework and been told to revise and revise and, you have got this pattern by now... revise... Anyway, after leaving you hanging for so long - your arms must be tired, right? Give 'em a shake! - I wrote a chapter that is four pages long on word for you. Its the most I can do for now since my homework is all basically... 'Hey, student! Time yourself on your essays, kay!?' But enough of my complaining about sixth form life, and onto the show! Here's chapter 33 everyone. ;)
Chapter 33: Seeds of the Dark Side.
Vanko Forn and Keanu Halycon, two Death Watch sentinels, sat slouched against the wooden bench outside of Vizsla's tent, clearly sick of sentinel for the arrogant warrior brooding inside.
Vanko snorted like an animal and spat disgustedly on the murky ground. "I hate sentinel," he grunted in his baritone voice.
Halycon bit a bitter chuckle. "Don't let the boss hear you saying that. He'd hack you up into pieces with that darksaber of his in the blink of an eye."
"Nah," Vanko shrugged, puffing out his chest as the left corner of his lip slowly ascended into a half smile. "He wouldn't risk losing his best assassin over what I say. He values my skills too much."
A sharp clang of rock against metal had the two men jumping quickly from their relaxed stances to an offensive position, blasters in the hands of Halycon and two electric whips in Vanko's. "Intruders." Halycon hissed. "Should we call for back up?"
"No. We can take them."
Halycon disliked the over confidence he sensed leaking through Vanko's tone. He shuddered as a cold shiver ran up his spine. "What if it's the Jedi?"
Vanko turned to stare at him as if he'd grown two heads. "Did you not see that dark-dressed guy walk out of here earlier with his small army of commando droids!?" He asked his best friend in bewilderment. "He had a lightsaber hanging from his belt. I bet he slaughtered those righteous sleemos!"
Vanko strode forward, the arrogance seeping through his swagger as he looked over his shoulder and beckoned Halycon with his hand to follow him. Halycon hurriedly scrambled up to and fell into step beside him, earning a sharp and piercing glance from his companion for his lack of stealth.
The two turned the corner to find nothing but darkness and a mountain wall. Halycon sighed in exasperation. "Great. Nothing." He spread his arms and slapped his hands to the sides of his thighs to express his disappointment after he place dhis weapons back in his holster.
"I don't think so," Vanko breathed, emerald eyes narrowed dangerously. They shone in the dark like a cat's eye. Vanko's vision was near imperfect; he could spot miniscule things from far away and identify them. He could shoot a target through the head or heart with a sniper from a good distance without the scope. The man didn't earn his title of 'cat's eyes' for nothing. "It's too quiet. That noise with the rock hitting this bucket here," He nudged the bucket with his mucky brown boot. "was caused by either something or someone."
Halycon's mahogany eyes widened in agreement and sparkled with admiration. How he wished he could be as glorious as Vanko. He was honoured back home by their warrior ancestors and by Vizsla here. He couldn't help but feel envious of Vanko's glory.
A loud rush of air raced past them both, whipping both male's dark and light strands of hair across their faces violently. Vanko's emerald orbs sparkled in alarm and his iris' dilated as a dark, human and Togruta shadow dashed across the mountain wall. His fingers ghosted over the hilt of his whips in preparation for battle. Before his mind could even register the knowledge that the Jedi were alive and the Count had failed a loud thwack had him spinning around on his feet and his emerald eyes landing on Halycon's prone form.
The chestnut haired man was on his back, head lolled to one side and arms spread out like a vulture's wings.
Vanko felt his breath catch in his throat, and suddenly his lungs were on fire as the intake of breath came rushing out of him as quickly as it had come in. His head swam as the back of his skull connected with the rocky wall behind him. His muscular back rippled from the pain of being thrown into the wall. And his breath came in short, ragged gasps as he was hauled to his feet and was being studied by the piercing sapphire orbs of Anakin Skywalker.
The pair of eyes blazed with a calm fury as he stared the now trembling man down. "Not as tough as you think, huh?" The voice whispered silkily before a sharp pain ripped through his skull and all he saw was black.
Anakin Skywalker twizzled his deactivated lightsaber in his hand and clipped it back onto his belt as he stared down disgustedly at the unconscious raven haired man before him. Stepping behind his head and linking his arms beneath the prone man's form he hauled him off of the ground, dragged him into the shadows and out of sight. He held the fairer haired man in the air with the Force and dumped him in the same place as his companion before slinking away towards the area he sensed Vizsla's presence was lingering in.
The air was silent, grey clouds forming across the darkening sky, and two ghostly birds tweeted once in alarm before retreating from their perch on a lone, dying tree. Anakin approached the flapping tent flaps and ever so slowly pushed one aside, his eyes scanning the tens surroundings.
Black scorches, that could only come from a lightsaber, marred the tents interior walls, some ripped open completely. A table with schematics and a lamp was toppled over, the lamps oil slowly slithering its way along the papers. The hum of a lightsaber and laboured breathing hung in the air as Anakin's vision finally landed on Ahsoka standing above a red-faced Mandalorian warrior, emerald lightsabers dangerously close to the man's tender throat.
Flourishing his own lightsaber gracefully, the Jedi Knight slowly made his way towards the blonde. "Its' nice to see you again. We have some catching up to do." Ahsoka looked at her master expectantly whilst Vizsla glared daggers at the young man.
"My Master sends his regards."
With that, Anakin gazed at him with his piercing eyes. Vizsla gazed back, transfixed with fear and confusion at what the boy was doing. The next thing he knew was a blazing pain running up and down his arm, and he bit down hard on his lip, drawing blood, as he supressed himself from trying to gulp in more air for his hungry lungs. The tender points in his throat from when Obi-Wan had Force choked him were in agony and demanded attention. His left, weaker arm was next as pain seared throughout that injury he received in a long ago battle. He felt as if every nerve was in that limb was on fire, being covered in fire once more.
Mandalorians were accustomed to pain; they were trained to ignore it in battle, ignore the bodies weaknesses and push on. Fight until one perishes. But never had Vizsla come across this pain before.
Ahsoka stared at her master in shock, whose face was void of emotion as he stared down at the warrior before him. Her master was many things – passionate being his number one quality – but surely he wasn't a person to torture, or a murderer. "Master!"
Ahsoka's plea seemed to drag the young Knight out of his trance, and Vizsla's pain suddenly seized. The blonde warrior lay on the ground panting, sweat slicked across his face and ragged breaths tearing out of his virtually destroyed throat and crippled arm.
"Ahsoka, go check outside please for any more sentinels."
The padawan felt uncomfortable about her master's decision, but she obeyed, nonetheless, and exited the tent. She chose to stand just outside the flaps, arms crossed over her chest as her eyes surveyed the rural area. Everything was virtually dead here, and the only life was Vanko, Halycon and Vizsla, although the grotesque presence of Dooku still lingered in faint, black flashes, and the lives of small creatures.
Anakin, glanced behind his shoulder, seeing his padawan was standing just outside the tent. Turning back, and knowing his padawan would hear, he crouched down to the balls of his feet and leant over Vizsla. The Knight left an ominous presence of dread in Vizsla as the man's lips hovered just over the shell of his ear.
"Leave this planet, and never harm my master again. If I ever see you again… I will kill you."With the fear spiked in the warrior from the peace keepers dark threat, he gazed in shock as Anakin Skywalker slowly rose to his feet, glared at him icily for a few seconds that had lasted like hours, and bounded out of the tent.
"He won't be coming back anytime soon, Ahsoka." The Togruta sensed something dark in her master, and the fear in Vizsla. She already knew that he would steer clear of Skywalker and, if he was smart, follow his orders, yet the dark seed within her master bloomed ever so slightly, and that scared her more than anything.
I'd like to say the power that Anakin used on Vizsla in this chapter is called 'Shatterpoint.' Luke was able to use it and I figured Anakin or any Jedi technically could if they wanted to. Vanko's weapons just came to me and then I realised that he seems like Whiplash, Iron Man's enemy from the Marvel Universe! :D By the way, how do you all feel about f***ing Disney cancelling the Clone Wars? I'm not impressed as not ALL of the loose ends between Episodes II and III have been tied together/ I find Disney's lack of faith in the Clone Wars TV series disturbing...
I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know, please! :)