Chapter 16
AN: Hey guys, just a short chapter here about our Siths time on Yavin.
Messorem-Dust: Considering that Shmi is being trained by a Sith from the Old Republic ear, they will stick to the ways and traditions of the Sith of old, not the Bane order. Yeah, Shmi and Acina have opposite views on many things, one is an experienced Sith master, warrior, politician, and schemer while the other is someone who is new to the whole force thing and believes that there is good in the galaxy.
The Dark Saphire: I know earlier chapters have mistakes, but I'm working on it. The part about the misspelled name is due to the original chapters having an OC Sith in them until I changed it. Having Acina felt much better than an OC.
Shmi sat on top of a large boulder in a meditative position. Her eyes might have been closed but she could feel everything around her through the force, from the smallest jungle critter to Triz who was currently practicing her lightsaber forms. Her abilities to wield the force have increased greatly so much so that she can now feel the echoes of the time long passed. Case and point, she could feel the echo of something in the temple they found themselves next to, it was faint but it was there and it was dark.
"A ritual of some kind possibly or something similar, whatever it was, it was once powerful enough to leave lasting traces in the force," Acina explained. The ghostly Sith had her own theories but kept them to herself. The Sith had continued to tutor her apprentice ever since they arrived on the jungle moon. It was a perfect place to train a Sith, well-hidden, remote, and bound to the dark side of the force. Shmi's prowess with the Sith lighting was increasing with each passing day and the same went with all of her other skills. The same could be said for the young Zabrak whose close encounter with death only served to push her determination forward. Triz had initially been shaken up by her encounter with the reptilian predators of Yavin 4. The near-death experience would be hard on anyone, let alone a vulnerable teen like Triz. The fact that she had almost died and was once again saved by Shmi edged deeply into the young girl's mind. If her master wasn't there Triz would have ended up as dinner for those things. Another reason to be grateful to Shmi. Once she calmed down enough, she became even more dead set on learning anything Shmi could teach her, improving any skill she could, and gaining more strength. She became even more zealous with her training. Some would say that it was bordering on obsession. The kid had the potential and determination to spare.
Shmi had done her best to keep a more watchful eye on the girl since the incident. She kept Triz close at all times, almost never letting the girl leave her sight. Acina commented that she was being overprotective of their acolyte, almost like a mother hen. Shmi just could allow herself to let a child suffer like that again.
"You can't hold her hand forever," Acina said.
"I'm not," Shmi stated. "I'm just looking out for her."
"You are doing more than just looking out, you have been practically babying her ever since the attack, you need to let it go. What happened happened, it is over and done, time to move on," Acina said. "I understand why you act like that but it will only serve to hinder both of you in the long run. She needs space to breathe, to span her wings so to speak. She won't be able to do that with you constantly breathing down her neck."
"You have seen what happened, what almost happened," Shmi said, her ire at her mentor starting to show. "I'm not going to let that happen again."
"You do understand that you can't just keep her tide to yourself forever," Acina countered, clearly showing her disapproval of Shmi's recent actions.
"I'm well aware of that, but I will keep her close until I deem her skilled enough to venture out on her own, until then, I'm keeping her close and that's final," Shmi told her mentor, her tone of voice leaving little room for argument. Acina chose not to push the issue further, at least for now. Shmi will learn in time.
Shmi continued to meditate, focusing on her emotions about her past, at least what little she could remember of it. Last night she had another vision, it didn't seem to hold anything too important, just a memory of her making dinner in a small house. At least it was better than a memory of being abused or sold. It was almost a comforting memory, doing something so simple without anyone there to order her around, to treat her like property. At least she thought no one was making her do it, she did not remember anything else.
After a while a routine set in, Shmi and Triz would wake up, have breakfast while chatting, and prepare themselves for the day before beginning the first round of lessons in the morning. Shmi had built a sort of lesson plan for the students. In the morning it was force studies, lessons on the force, its mysteries, and practicing using it. At noon was lunch, after which Triz had a break during which Shmi focused on her own studies under Acina. After that Shmi would continue Triz's lightsaber combat lessons for the next several hours. Shmi would then begin her own lightsaber practice with Triz as an audience. What time remained served for doing errands and leisure.
One day Shmi was running diagnostics on the ship's engines while Triz was doing some extra training with the force. The zabrak sat cross-legged on the ground, several medium-sized rocks were placed around her and she was trying to lift them into the air using the force. She did as she was taught by her mentor, she called upon the force, called upon her emotions and soon the rocks started to vibrate first before slowly being lifted into the air, they did not shoot up like when Shmi did it but for Triz who was just a beginner this was a good progress. She opened her eyes wishing to see her handy work but instead of rock floating around she was met by the sight of a strange white face and brown eyes. Triz let out a scream, losing focus and letting the rocks fall onto the ground. She hurriedly backed away from the strange creature, looking at it wearily. The creature stared at Triz with interest.
It was a small creature, with white fur, a small head, two large fury ears, four limbs, and a fluffy tail. Its face had apelike features, including a keen, small snout, but was dominated by its big, innocent-looking, round eyes, with eyelids protruding for several centimeters. It watched Triz closely as she lifted herself up from the ground. Triz stared back at it for a long moment and could not help but find this creature simply cute.
"Uh hi..." Triz said nervously. The creature did not respond, simply continued to stare at her with wide curious eyes. "Do you speak?" she asked and once more no response came from the white creature. "Maybe I should call Shmi..." Triz pulled a com device out of her pocket and called her mentor. "Uh, master..."
"Yeah Triz, what is it? I'm a bit busy at the moment," Shmi replied as she looked at the screen showing the data regarding the engines.
"I think you need to come outside and see something," Triz said into the com device, her gaze not leaving the creature for a moment.
"See what?" Shmi asked, her interest slightly piqued.
"I don't know what it is, that's why I'm calling you," Triz responded.
"Alright I will be there," Shmi said and quickly made her way outside of the ship. What she found surprised her. There in a stand-off were a confused Triz and some kind of a white-furred animal. The creature's gaze went from Triz to Shmi who was walking down the ramp. Once the creature's eyes met Shmis they changed color from brown to blue, mimicking the shade of Shmi's eyes. This caught Shmis off guard, she had never seen anything like it. The creature then suddenly moved back, away from Shmi. Its fur changed color from white to gray.
"It can change colors," Triz said, not hiding the wonder from her voice.
"It seems so…," Shmi said while looking at the creature with interest. This was certainly something new. "Ever seen anything like this?"
"No," Acina replied, her tone showing her own interest. "This is a new one for me. I know of species that can change the color of their skin to match their surroundings so as to hide from predators or to hunt but I have never seen a species like this. It's some kind of an apelike creature."
"Did it do anything?" Shmi asked the Zabrak teen.
Triz looked at Shmi and shook her head. "Nothing except stare at me the whole time."
"So it didn't attack you, try to harm you?"
"No, it just got really close and stared at me," Triz replied. She moved her gaze back at the creature. "I don't think it's dangerous, it's honestly adorable."
Shmi took a moment to take a better look at the new arrival. "It really is adorable. Although it doesn't seem to like me much," she said as the now gray creature continued to stare at her with weary eyes.
"Maybe you scared it when you came out of the ship," Triz said. "It saw me and didn't expect anyone else."
"Probably," Shmi said looking at the cute ball of fur.
"What do we do with it?" Triz asked.
"Don't know," Shmi said with a shrug. "Leave it, it will go back from where it came from. It's a wild animal after all," Triz looked from her master to the creature who was still watching Shmi. "Come on inside, it looks like it's going to rain again."
Triz looked up to see dark clouds forming above them, sure enough, it's going to rain soon. The two force users retreated to the confines of the ship while the creature stared at them with keen interest. Soon enough rain started to pore, and the creature disappeared into the foliage of the jungle.
"The Sith philosophy is centered around the idea that following your passions and constantly getting stronger allows you to unlock your full potential," Shmi told her student as the two sat in the cargo hold, a holocron resting on the floor between them. "The Sith value strength so much because it is required to survive. We use the force to better ourselves, to achieve what we thought was unachievable beforehand. When one decides to use the dark side of the force one must remain focused, you might be using your emotions as fuel but never let them consume you completely. The force amplifies one's emotions and if left unchecked those emotions can turn you rampant. There must always be a balance, a barrier you know not to cross."
As always with their lessons, Shmi was simply repeating what she had been taught by Acina, the ghostly Sith ocassionally giving her own input. The ancient Sith approach to the dark side was similar to Darth Mars or Vowrawns. Use the dark side but not become its pawn, a mistake many inexperienced Sith made over the centuries. A few snippets of raw power are a poor substitute for one's sanity. Acina knew the pros and cons of using the dark side and was adamant to teach her apprentice the same. Shmi had great potential, it would be a shame if she gave into the temptations too early and lost herself to the dark void of the force. The same could be said about the zabrak.
"And what will happen if I lose control?" Triz asked, a hint of fear in her voice.
"You won't," Shmi said reassuringly, reaching out to place a hand on the teen's shoulder. "I will make sure of that."
Triz gave her master a nod before Shmi decided to return to their lesson.
"Open the holocron," Shmi told her student. Triz did as told. She reached out with her hand, focused, called upon the force, and made the holocron move, opening it. A holographic image of a long-dead Sith lord appeared.
"Each holocron is a source of information, and each holocron has a gatekeeper so to speak. A gatekeeper is the projected image of a Sith who made the holocron. This gatekeeper acted as a guide through the holocron's store of information, as a search and recovery engine with a more personal touch. These gatekeepers could relate stories from the holocron's archives to events in the life of the one who activated the holocron," Shmi explained. Both force users could feel the pull coming from the ancient artifact.
"Would I be able to make a holocron?" Triz asked.
"Yes, one day," Shmi replied. "But not now, you are too young and barely at the beginning of your training."
"This is the holocron of Darth Baras, what is it that you wish to know?" the holographic image of the Sith spoke.
"Basic force abilities," Shmi spoke.
"Very well," the image spoke in what sounded like an annoyed tone and soon began a lecture on the basic force abilities that any Sith must have in their arsenal. Triz listened with great interest, taking in every word. Shmi also listened to the ancient Sith's words but there was little need to fully focus on them as she already knew most of what he was talking about, not to mention that she had an ancient sith stuck inside her head. After about an hour the lesson was brought to an end and Shmi and Triz went to the ship's common area to eat something. It was nothing special, some rations and herbal tea Shmi had bought on the space station.
"I never asked," Triz said as she took a bite from her meal. "Where are you from? What is your home world like?"
For a brief moment, Shmi sported a thoughtful look, trying to remember the name but could not. The only thing she could remember about the world she once called home was that it was sandy and warm.
"That's an answer I can not give you because I don't know," Shmi replied and Triz looked at her with confusion.
"You don't know?" Triz asked.
"I don't," Shmi responded. "I have a form of amnesia, I don't really remember my past, where I come from, my early life, the people I knew. I had a few memory flashes over the months but nothing concrete. The thing I know is that I have spent time on a desert world and that's it."
Triz was quiet, looking at Shmi with a mixture of worry and pity. "It must be horrible not being able to remember where you are from, your family. Even with everything that happened I still remember Selucami and my family fondly. Most of the time, that is."
Shmi took her cup of tea, and looked at it, seeing her own reflection in it. She did often ponder on her past, on the questions she had no answers, wondering if she would ever fully regain her memories. On one hand, she wanted it, wanted answers about her old life but on the other, there were things she did not want to remember like more of her time as a slave. What she had seen in the flashes was enough to make her shake with rage. She did not want to remember any abuse she was forced to endure, she did not want to remember if she was forced to watch loved ones suffer. She wasn't sure how she would handle that.
"I think about it sometimes but I don't fret myself much about it. I'm living my life now the way I want it, free. That's is what is important," Shmi said.
"What about any people you knew? Don't you want to know?" Triz asked.
"I do but there's little I can do about it seeing as I can't remember where I'm from. Even if I remember someone I would be useless as I don't know where to go look for them," Shmi replied.
"That must be sad," Triz said lowering her head.
"It kinda is," Shmi replied, still looking at the cup. She lifted her gaze to look at Triz. "Hey, I have you. Dealing with your every day is like dealing with a dozen people at the same time."
"Hey!" Triz half shouted, offended. "I'm not that bad."
"Just keep telling yourself that kid," Shmi said, a small smile appearing on her lips. The two of them continued to converse and joke around until R3 arrived, letting out a series of beeps and whistles. "What do you mean something is outside?" The droid beeped and whistled again and left towards the ship's ramp. Shmi and Triz exchanged questioning looks before following the droid outside. What they found surprised them both. There in front of the lowered ramp, standing on its four legs was the strange furry creature they encountered days earlier. It was looking at them with those big inquisitive eyes. The two force users stared at the creature for a moment, it staring back at them. Shmi was the one who spoke first.
"Looks like someone has decided to visit us again," Shmi said eyeing the cute little creature with interest, one eyebrow moving upward.