Chapter 18
AN: Hello again, It's me with another update. This chapter is a bit about Shmi and an unexpected discovery. Hope you guys enjoy it as always.
Messorem-Dust: Thank you and happy new year to you as well (I know it is a bit late, sorry), I'm glad you are liking the story so far.
TragicFiction: I'm glad you like it and thanks for the review. I have checked Gramerly out, thanks for the recommendation.
amerikhan786: (Spoiler alert!) I'm glad someone figured it out, yes it's master Ikrit. I have full intention of diving deep into Sith powers and magic, and Shmi will have her own powers but later down the line.
The darkness had fallen on the moon of Yavin, prompting Shmi and her ward to head to bed for the night, both retiring to her quarters after a good meal and some relaxation. Shmi had fallen asleep rather quickly. Her sleep was usually dreamless, this starting off no different. During her rest, the Sith apprentice started to twist and turn in her sleep, her face forming a frown as a dream came to her. She saw an image of a tall man with long graying brown hair and a trimmed beard, he wore strange robes, and his facial expression was calm but his eyes betrayed a dose of pity. They stood in front of what could be considered a house.
"Please," Shmi said, her voice pleading. "Watch over him."
"I will keep him safe, you have my word," the man said. Shmi felt uncertain but something told her that the man's words were true, that he would abide by his oath. A feeling of sadness gripped her but also hope. The dream vanished just as quickly as it appeared and Shmi woke up with a start, her breathing slightly labored, her brow drenched in sweat. It took her a minute or so to compose herself. She rubbed her sleepy eyes.
"Another flashback," Shmi said, her head was throbbing slightly.
"It appears so," the ghostly sith said. "Short, with little context, and yet for whatever reason the memory resonates strongly within you. It must be tied to something important," What Acina left unsaid was that she recognized the man's robes and noticed the shine of a lightsaber hilt hidden by the cloak the bearded man wore. The robes might have been altered with the passage of time but the Jedi were never the most inventive lot when it comes to what they wore. This man was without a shadow of a doubt a Jedi. That left Acina with a question, what kind of relation did Shmi have with the Order?
Shmi listened to her master's words, something important. Questions started coming to Shmi's mind, who was that man, how did he know her and who was the person they were talking about? Was it the boy she had glimpsed a while back or someone else?
"No, not something, someone," Shmi corrected her ghostly master. Her mind continued to think about what she had just seen.
The Sith hummed. "Someone?" she repeated. "I'm starting to see a pattern forming. The memories that are coming back to you seem to be tied to key things or moments in your life. They aren't as random as we initially thought."
"As much as I like getting my memories back I'm starting to get a bit fed up with how short they are, I barely get glimpses into my old life. I want to know what happened to me, who I was before..." Shmi said, a sigh leaving her lips as she leaned back onto the bed, her head resting against the pillow.
"Before I found you," Acina finished the sentence. "That is a mystery that I too have a vested interest in, my dear. You should be grateful for those glimpses, as short as they are, they are getting more frequent, and with time and patience, I'm certain you will put the pieces of this puzzle together. Until you do, other things require your attention."
"Yeah..." Shmi said, a simple reply. She tried to go back to sleep but sleep avoided her. After about an hour of no success, Shmi simply gave up trying and decided to make herself some tea, maybe something warm will help her. Shmi dragged herself out of bed and walked towards the common area of the ship. To her surprise, she found the area already occupied. Triz was sitting in one of the chairs at the table, her feet resting on the edge of the chair, knees positioned beneath her chin, and with a blanket wrapped around her. The teen was simply staring at the wall in front of her.
"Couldn't sleep?" Shmi asked as she made her way towards the kitchen, the sudden appearance of her master catching the teen by surprise, startling the girl. The teen's gaze turned from her mentor back towards the wall.
"Yeah," Triz responded in a low tone.
"Bad dreams?" Shmi asked to which the teen Zabrak responded with a nod. Shmi could sense the emotions coming off the girl, sadness and grief, she had probably dreamt about her parent again. Maybe she should try to cheer the girl up a bit. "Well then, I got a way to deal with that, an old Sith secret."
Triz looked up to Shmi with expecting eyes. "What is it? Will you tell me?"
Shmi rummaged around the kitchen and started preparing two cups of some sort of beverage. "It's an old Sith way, my master taught it to me, just like her master did her. It's not a foolproof method but it works most of the time."
"My dear, I fail to remember teaching you anything that can remove emotions from people," the ghostly Sith said, utterly puzzled. Shmi finished preparing the two beverages, the mugs were now filled with something that was steaming hot. "Wait, is this…"
Shmi walked over to the table and handed one of the mugs over to Triz. The teen accepted it, wincing a bit as she grabbed the mug at the wrong angle. She looked at the hot brown liquid inside the mug, a confused expression forming on her face.
"Hot chocolate, nothing better to lift one's spirit than steaming how a cup of sugary goodness to make the bad dreams go away," Shmi said, taking a seat opposite Triz. She took a seep from the mug, regretting it instantly, her face turning slightly red. "Maybe wait a minute before drinking."
"Seriously?" Acina said, not bothering to hide her bewilderment. "You seriously just called hot chocolate an old Sith secret."
"Hey, I need something to lift her spirits, and everyone loves hot chocolate," Shmi told her mentor. "Besides didn't you like it when you were alive?"
"I always preferred tea to other beverages and I would occasionally partake in some fine wine, but I can't say that I ever had a liking to hot chocolate," Acina said. Shmi was about to throw a jab at her prim and proper master but was cut off by Acina before doing so. "Apprentice, if you say anything childish I will make sure your next exercise will be much more painful than anything you have endured so far."
Shmi opted not to say anything, Acina might be a ghost stuck inside of Shmi's head but she had ways of making their training more difficult and painful when she wanted it to be. Shmi had the bruises to prove it.
"Why are you up?" Triz asked, making Shmi focus on her and not the long-dead Sith.
"Same as you," Shmi answered. "Had a dream, woke up, could not fall back asleep, and decided to come here. Wanted to make some tea but seeing you here, opted for something better instead."
The girl let out a small chuckle. "Hot chocolate is an old Sith secret?"
"It is now," Shmi said, offering a small smile. Triz chuckled once again.
"You know were are on a tropical moon right? Shouldn't we be drinking something cold?" Triz asked half-jokingly.
"Maybe, but few things taste better than this," Shmi answered, taking another seep from her mug, the beverage had cooled a bit, and it was drinkable now. "You can drink it now, it won't feel like drinking lava."
Triz took a seep from her mug, it was warm and sweet with a thick texture. It all brought a smile to the girl's face. Shmi was glad that her little idea seemed to work.
"So," Triz said, her voice showing a hint of uncertainty. "I'm learning of all this force and Sith stuff, and I'm been meaning to ask, are there any good stories about the Sith from the past? The cargo hold is full of artifacts, so there must have been some cool Sith, right?"
Shmi looked at the young Zabrak. To be truthful, her knowledge of old Sith was limited to what Acina had told her in their lessons. She knew of some great Sith lords but nothing concrete. She knew about some of their accomplishments but Triz probably wanted a real story. Her head came up empty.
"I will help," Acina said. "I will speak to you and you just have to repeat or you can let me tell the tale myself. I have a few good stories from the old days."
"I think that suddenly switching personalities will freak the kid out so we are sticking to the first option," Shmi replied, her reservation about the idea clear. Triz had so far seen Acina take Shmi's place several times, although Shmi doubted that the girl knew what was truly going on. Most likely the girl choked it off to Sith methods or Shmi just acting that way for fun. Both of those times Acina had already been in control of Shmi's body, seeing a ghost take over would perhaps cause the girl to freak out or question things and Shmi honestly wasn't ready to give those answers. Not to mention how insane the actual explanation is. She would have to keep it under wraps for the time being.
"Shame, I'm a good narrator, you simply repeating my words won't have the same effect. The tale is always best recounted by the source," Acina responded.
"We will survive," Shmi said.
"Suit yourself, you lose," Acina said, her tone showing a hint of disappointment. The tale the ancient Sith proceeded to tell and Shmi repeat was one of Acina's own adventures, one from her youth, during her times as an apprentice. It involved the Hut clans, a very valuable and talkative rodian spy, her superb flying skills, a rust bucket of a ship, and a dangerous asteroid field. Suffice to say, Acina spared no details which Shmi was forced to tell. It was certainly an interesting and exciting tale, Triz taking in even the small details. The storytelling lasted for about half an hour at the end of which left Triz with stars in her eyes.
"That was..." Triz began to say but was cut off by a yawn. It seemed that the hot beverage and long story were enough to make the teen sleepy again. "That was awesome. Can you tell another one?"
"I think that enough stories for one night kid, time to go to bed. We got more lessons in the morning and you need to be well rested," Shmi spoke, her tone almost sounding motherly. She took the two empty mugs, walked over to the kitchenette, and put them away. Triz mumbled fine before getting up, yawning again before walking away to her room.
"It seems you succeeded in your endeavor to cheer her up," Acina said. The Sith had opted to take Shmi's side on the situation regarding the orphaned teen if for no other reason than because of practicality. A young orphaned girl like Triz, one with so much turmoil inside of her was easily impressionable, and from what Acina had noticed the child had attached herself strongly to Shmi. It was like looking at a rescue puppy. She can be groomed to become a dark-side adept. Shmi might not have yet seen it but the Zabrak was a good candidate to become a useful tool. The young girl could be used as a cog in a large scheme, leveraging her innocence or sympathy to gain access to places or information otherwise inaccessible to Acina or Shmi.
"I can't take all of the credit, your story was interesting even if the whole thing was about stroking your ego," Shmi replied, the corners of her lips moving upwards.
"I will have you know that maneuver through the asteroid field can only be pulled off by a true master pilot," Acina said pridefully. If only she could fly again. There are a few things as liberating as flying a ship, especially a fast one. So far the closest she had gotten to actually touching the controls of the ship was when she watched Shmi pilot this pile of scrap they called a vessel. Acina truly missed her old personal fighter, she had customized and upgraded that thing to the point that it could be considered unique. The Sith thought about asking Shmi to take the reins when they next opted to travel, even a short flight would be exhilarating.
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that," Shmi told her master with a snort.
"You ungrateful little..." Acina spoke with false irritation.
Shmi and Triz traversed through the thick jungle foliage. Their reason for doing so, reaching the stream to get more water. Something which was taking longer than it should have. Both were starting to think that they might be lost. Well, there were technically three of them, that strange animal was following them from the distance.
"I think we took a wrong turn somewhere," Triz said while looking around, trying to spot anything familiar.
Shmi brushed aside a large leaf which ended up hitting Triz in the face once the older woman released it. Triz brushed the large piece of greenery aside, a look of irritation plastered on her face. "I think you might be right."
"Lost in a jungle. This reminds me of some jokes that soldiers used to tell about brand new lieutenants and their inability to read a map or find their way out of a forest," the ghostly Sith said, remembering her days as a commander in the Imperial military. She always found it amusing and slightly ironic that sergeants were often more capable than their commanding officers. Then again, the smart ones would usually listen to what their more experienced men had to say and would gain the necessary experience while the incompetent ones would simply die.
"You commanded troops?" Shmi asked, that was certainly a new revelation regarding her master.
"Indeed I did my apprentice," Acina answered. "I led them into many battles, everything from small elite squads to entire armies. The galaxy was a turbulent place back then with many vying for control over it. It was a good thing that the Sith were a warrior order so we were more than prepared for conflict."
"Who did you fight?" Shmi asked, this new revelation greatly intrigued her.
"Zakuul comes to mind," Acina answered, thinking of the now mostly forgotten Empire.
"And they are?" Shmi had never heard of that name before, then again she does not possess great knowledge of history and she had no way of knowing if she had heard about Zakul in her first life.
"An empire that formed in the Unknown regions. It was ruled by a despot known as Valkorian and after him, his son Arcan, and less said about his insane daughter Vaylin the better. I must admit, the Empire of Zakuul did give the Sith a hard time but in the end, we were the ones who came up on top and they became little more than a footnote in history," Not to mention the part where Acina used the Eternal Empires conflict with the Sith Empire to wipe out her competition and rise to the position of Empress of the Sith. The Sith Empire took losses but they were manageable. The only thing she regretted was Darth Marr's death, he was a great asset to the empire and one of the few truly reliable Sith lords.
"Huh, I might need to start reading up on the galaxy's history more. It's hard to keep up with you sometimes. For you it's not just history, you lived it," Shmi said as she continued to make her way through the jungle. "Would you be willing to teach me some battle tactics?"
"What for? Are you planning to raise an army and fight someone like the slavers we encountered?" Acina said, planting an idea into Shmi's mind. The former slave thought about it, she had done what she could on Columex but that was barely a drop in the sea when it comes to combating a galaxy-spanning slave trade. Maybe Acina had a point, maybe some additional help could be useful. A thought for another time, she had enough on her plate as it was. After a while, Shmi and Triz finally managed to locate the stream.
"Finally," Triz said not hiding her exhilaration, her feet were starting to hurt from all the walking and if she was slapped by anything else, she was going to lose it. The older woman and the teen unloaded the canisters and placed them into the stream, the water slowly filling the metal objects. The white-furred animal was drinking water a few meters down the stream. As they did so, Triz looked around, the thought of her almost disastrous last trip to the stream ever present in her mind. She saw nothing that indicated any signs of danger plus judging how calm her mentor was, there was nothing potentially lethal in the vicinity. The teen was about to return her attention to the canister when a glint in the shrubbery caught her attention. Lifting the canister out of the water, she proceeded to walk over to the source of the glint.
Shmi lifted her gaze from her canister onto her student. "Triz?"
The Zabrak stopped in front of something solid and with a swipe of a hand removed the whines, dirt, and leaves covering it. Whatever it was it was metallic in nature. She proceeded to pull off more of the whines and jungle debris until she had a good part of it cleared. She took several steps back to look at the object.
"I-I think we just found a ship," the teen said, eyes wide with astonishment. Shmi left her canister in the water and walked over to her student.
"I think you are right," Shmi said while looking at the find, her own interest rising. Using the force she pushed off all of the remaining jungle debris that covered the ship, revealing it in all of its glory. Both the student and the master frowned once they saw it uncovered. There were clear signs of blaster bolt damage on the outer hall of the ship and more from once it hit the ground. By the looks of it, it was once a fighter of some kind.
"Crashed here, a good while ago by the looks of it," Shmi said, summarizing her thoughts.
"I could be mistaken but that looks like a Davaab-type starfighter. This type was used by Mandalorians since the first Mandalorian wars. It was easy to make so it became their go-to fighter. The interesting question is what is it doing here?" Acina said.
"You think the pilot survived?" Triz asked, looking at her mentor expectedly.
"Only one way to find out," Shmi said and proceeded to walk towards the downed ship. She climbed onto the cockpit and pried open the starcraft canopy to reveal a suit of dusty armor. The armor was blue, although most of the paint was gone and the helmet sported a T-shaped visor. Its owner's remains were doubtlessly still inside. "That answers that question."
"That's definitely a Mandalorian," Acina said, her suspicions now confirmed. Whoever this Mandalorian warrior was, he has been dead for a long time. At least they died the way any Mandalorian wants to die, fighting. Shmi took a look around the cockpit, there was little of interest inside except the remains.
"What are we to do?" Triz asked. "Shouldn't we...I don't know, berry them. It doesn't feel right to leave them like this."
Shmi looked at the dead pilot, they had been lying here undisturbed for who knows how long, their ship had become their tomb. But the kid had a point, leaving them here to be overtaken by the jungle again would be disrespectful. Shmi might now have known this person but every person deserves a decent burial.
"If we are to remove the remains, may I suggest not burying the armor and taking it with us. That armor is valuable, it would be a waste to let it be forgotten in this wilderness," Acina said.
"This person died in that armor, it belongs..." Shmi started but was cut off by her master. Even if dead, this person could still be shown dignity. She had taken from the dead before but that was necessary, not to mention that they tried to kill her first. This situation was different.
"It belongs to the clan that this Mandalorian is a part of," Acina finished the sentence in her way. She knew what her apprentice was about to say but she knew the Mandalorian culture better. "Mandalorians do not bury their dead with their armor and weapons, they are passed down to the next generation. That armor is valuable for two reasons, because of its meaning to the clan and because it's made out of beskar, one of the rarest metals in the galaxy. Leaving it in the dirt would be disrespectful and a waste."
After a moment of thought, Shmi subsided. "Fine. We will take the water back to the ship and come back with shovels and some backpacks. We will give the Mandalorian a burial and take the armor to the ship."
"Splendid," Acina said satisfied that her apprentice saw her way. That armor was old and made of pure beskar by the looks of it. A personal suit of beskar armor would offer plenty of protection from most attacks. The idea to bury it is absurd. The dead have no use for something like this.
"Come on Triz, let's get this back to the ship and then we will return, we got some digging to do," Shmi told her student as she walked over to the water container she had carried, closed it, put it on her back and started walking back towards their ship.