I don't own Star Wars or any of the characters.
Explosions wracked the Rakata vessel Devourer. Mortally wounded, the leviathan class ship plunges in fiery death to the world bellow. Panic engulfed the crew, Rakata and slave alike. The only chance of survival was if the crew reached the escape pods. But there were not enough escape pods on board for all the crew. Predor Tul'kar saw an easily solution to the problem.
"Kill these slaves! Clear my path to the escape pods! And tell me, how did these miserable animals sabotage my ship?" demanded Tul'kar.
"They did not, Predor Tul'kar! Nor did an enemy vessel attack us!" explained a Rakata officer.
Tul'kar raised his force pike, cutting down three more slaves. The Predor and his soldiers rushed to the escape pod. The Rakata charged with guarding the Predor's personal escape pod had been slain.
"Who did this?! Who slew my guards?!" snarled Tul'kar.
A weapon is activated, the wielder easily striking down its target. Tul'kar and his soldiers are easily killed. They die wondering who killed them. He knows.
Xesh's eyes snapped open. He was the one who had caused the Devourer to crash. He had killed his Predor. His master. Why would he kill his master? And why could he not remember the motivation for doing so?
A dream ago, Xesh was on the Devourer. His home. He was now in a deep nightmare which threatened to devour him alive. The Force Hound had unknowingly been dragged into a cave while he was asleep by a colony of massive white spiders. The spiders had bound him in silk, crawling over his restrained form. They threatened to consume him from the inside out.
Xesh would not become prey to a bunch of pitiful creepy crawlers. The Force Hound drew strength from the Dark Side of the Force, summoning up a storm of Force lightning. One by one, the spiders were killed by the Force Hound's lightning. Xesh knew it was the destiny of the strong to prey on the weak. He will not be weak. He kills without remorse.
The Force Hound staggered to his feet. Survival was the prime instinct of all species. On this hostile world, Xesh knows he cannot let his guard down. To survive he must escape. Not only from the creatures that inhabit this world…but what lies within his own exhausted mind.
This deep abyss swelled with energy from the Dark Side. Shadows manifest. Those who perished on the Devourer have come for him—from beyond death, to take him down. Xesh runs deeper into the abyss. The shadows follow.
XXX
Aloft the Abyss of Ruh, Quan-Jang can see into the heart of the dark storm.
The storm felt like the depths of the Chasm itself! Hawk Ryo was nearly lost there. Daegen Lok went mad… Daegen Lok. Master Quan-Jang's most promising student, once upon a time. The master swore he would not lose Shae as he had Lok. He could sense his apprentice, alive…shrouded in darkness—walking deeper into the Abyss of Ruh. Quan-Jang had warned his apprentice about that place, consumed completely in the Dark Side of the Force.
Quan-Jang did not know if Shae followed after someone into the Abyss or if the darkness itself led his apprentice. He could feel it, too…a creeping madness—like lightning beneath the skin.
"Fly beast—by my will, fly! I will find Shae Koda!" swore Quan-Jang.
Deeper in the Rift, Hawk Ryo and Rori Fenn followed the ever growing dark energy from the back of Sek'nos Rath's mount.
"Anything?" asked Hawk.
"Nothing. This storm is messing with the sensor goggles. And it's getting worse…" responded Rori.
Lightning hit the ground near the Je'daii, causing their mount to panic. Hawk put his hands on the creature's neck, trying to calm the beast with the Force. Rori held on tight to Hawk, trying not to be bucked off the riding mount's back.
"Hold fast! Easy. Easy! Feels like the old days, back when we where Journeyers, Rori. Except you held me tighter then." recalled Hawk.
"Stop it, Hawk. There are reasons we cannot be together—and they haven't changed. We must concentrate on the Force, on the Balance—and on finding our lost Je'daii." remarked Rori.
"Aye…if we can keep our senses in this place." said Hawk.
Putting all thoughts of their past relationship to the side, Hawk and Rori focused on finding the Journeyers and locating the dark anomaly that caused the imbalance of Tython.
XXX
Hideous, purple skinned three eyed beast chased Xesh deeper into the Rift. The shadowed wraiths circled the Force Hound. Xesh sees his pursuers clearly now. Not wraiths, but flesh-and-blood beasts, powerful and ravenous. The scent of their blood lust is intoxicating to the dark Force user. Flesh and blood he can fight.
Xesh unleashed his lightning unto the beasts. The beasts are unaffected. They seem to devour the lightning. Xesh could sense the beast's heartbeat racing with his own. He smiled savagely. This is not his first arena. Not his first fight to the death.
He had fought a slave named Isk in the arena on Byss. Isk had been rumored to be one of Skal'nas' best hounds. They fought for the pleasure of their Rakata masters. Arena rules. Fight without mercy. Fight to survive. Fight to the death.
The arena on Byss. The arena in the Rift. No difference. The stakes then… The stakes now. No difference. Conquer or die.
Xesh grabbed a handful of thorns and threw them at the beast, just as he had redirected the spike Isk had thrown at him in the arena on Byss so long ago. In the arena, one used what was on hand. They had to strike without hesitation. They had to strike to kill. They had to strike to live. They had to fight on.
Fight on. Fight on. Fight on.
A rift worm tunneled up from the stone ground. The rift worm grabbed the beast off of Xesh, eating it whole. The Force Hound took this opportunity to escape. It was just like in the arena. One escaped if they could. If destiny allowed it. If not—face the foe. Fight on…until…you can't.
The rift worm had finished with the beast and now it wanted the Force Hound. Xesh had still not recovered from the crash and his fight with the Je'daii. His energy was drained. It seemed that fate had chosen the way the Force Hound would die, eaten alive on an alien planet. Xesh fell to his knees, accepting his fate as the rift worm was about to consume him.
The rift worm never got the chance to consume the hound. Xesh looked up to see the three Je'daii he had fought standing atop a hill. The Sith—Sek'nos—had tossed a rock at the rift worm, temporarily driving it away from the Force Hound.
"Yeah, you slim-sodden pile of worm droppings—I threw that! More to toss at your ugly head! You want to play?" yelled Sek'nos.
The rift worm turned its attention to the Sith, abandoning its attempt to consume the Force Hound. Sek'nos distracted the rift worm while Shae and Tasha rushed to Xesh's aid.
"Gak…I said…you want to play, worm-breath? Tasha! Shae! Move! Now!" shouted Sek'nos.
Just as quickly as it had lost interest in the Force Hound, the rift worm turned back with greater vengeance. This time it targeted the hound and those who helped him.
"You were supposed to keep it distracted, Sek'nos!" exclaimed Shae.
Sek'nos quickly joined his companions, trying to draw the beast's attention towards him. The rift worm cornered the three Je'daii and the hound by a cliff wall. With nowhere left to run, the Je'daii were forced to stand and fight. Even with their combined Force power, the rift worm kept coming at the Je'daii, lightning sparking and flaring about its gaping mouth.
"Even together we cannot hold it back!" panted Tasha.
"Wonderful—had to be a saarl!" muttered Shae.
"A what?" asked Sek'nos.
"Rift worm. Didn't breathe Force lightning the last time Master Quan-Jang and me tried to catch one. Did almost kill us, though." explained Shae.
"You and Master Quan-Jang seem to do that a lot. How do you fight it?" heavily breathed Sek'nos.
"You don't. Mostly—you run." answered Shae.
Xesh observed the Je'daii. He knows why his enemies seek to shield him from the beast. They do not want to be robbed of their victory kill. While the Je'daii were distracted with the saarl, the Force Hound snuck away.
"Remember how we felt in the cave? What if the Force Storm drove the saarl up from the Abyss? What if the storm affects everything on Tython? Nothing—no one will be safe!" realised Tasha.
Shae tried to activate the forcesaber, but the weapon refused to ignite its blade.
"We could make good use of that glow-sword right now, Shae!" stated Sek'nos.
"You think?! I've been trying, but it's not working!" angrily replied Shae.
From high on the rock cliff, Xesh watched the Je'daii struggle against the saarl. The Force Hound savored the red darkness of the Je'daii's fear. Raw anger pushes his joy away. He cannot leave. Not yet.
"Come on, you cursed thing! Power on! I…I command you!" demanded Shae.
"Female! Toss me the Weapon! The forcesaber is no good to you! You cannot ignite it!" emotionlessly said Xesh.
"No." replied Shae.
Under normal circumstances, Shae would never give the Force Hound back his weapon, and her companions would agree with her. But these were not normal circumstances, and Sek'nos Rath realised this.
"Toss it, Shae! Unless you're planning to club the saarl with it, it's the best hope we got!" stated Sek'nos.
"Blast. Here!" said Shae.
Reluctantly, Shae tossed the forcesaber to Xesh. The Force Hound caught his weapon.
It's all one world. It's all one fight. Arena rules always apply. No mercy, just like when he faced Isk on Byss. Show no weakness. And that's what Xesh did.
Xesh turned from the cliff. Shae Koda stared at the Force Hound as her walked away from the Je'daii, abandoning them to the saarl.
"Xesh? Xesh! What are you doing? Help us!" yelled Shae.
One world. One fight. Arena rules always apply.
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