Author Note: Please kindly consider following, favoriting, and leaving a review. Your support greatly fuels my motivation for both writing and editing. Wishing you a wonderful day!
Chapter 14 - Edit
Ben and Katara raced ahead, their footsteps echoing in the cavern's hushed atmosphere. When they reached the camp, an unexpected stillness had replaced the earlier discord between the two tribes. When Ben had left, they had been in the midst of their evening meal. Complete silence was the last thing he expected. The tribespeople were now nestled in their bedrolls, with some already lost in slumber, their resonant snores reverberating through the cavern.
However, this newfound calm was short-lived. The elderly man had roused from his rest, and as Ben and Katara tiptoed closer to investigate, his voice erupted like a sonic boom, jolting the tribespeople from their slumber. "You damn fools!" His voice carried the weight of years of frustration. "What have you done... you killed us... you killed us!" His bellowing grew even more intense, and the very earth beneath him seemed to quake with his rage, even though his broken arms were immobilized in casts.
"Old man, what's happening?" Ben shouted, the rest of Team Avatar converging on the scene as the old man thrashed. He slammed his face into the ground, blood gushing from his nose as he maddeningly screamed, "No!" He pressed his back against the wall, scanning the area like a man possessed.
Ben rushed forward, strong arms gripping the man's shoulders as they grappled. After a tense minute, the old man began to calm down, his frenetic voice gradually subsiding. A small crowd had gathered around them, their curiosity piqued. The old man's voice was now a hoarse whisper as he struggled to regain his composure.
"Now... tell me what's going on," Ben demanded, his words crisp and authoritative. The old man's dry lips parted, and he leaned in close to Ben's ear. The old man's words were a harsh murmur, and as Ben listened, his eyes widened in disbelief.
He recoiled from the old man, his hand instinctively reaching for his lightsaber. With the weapon held firmly in his right hand, he spun around to face the gathering crowd, addressing both tribes and Team Avatar. "Everyone, pack up. We're going to finish our journey!" His voice rang out, startling the tribespeople, who began to heed the young Jedi's words. Ben turned to his team, taking a step closer.
"What's going on?" Aang inquired, peering over Ben's shoulder at the still-seated old man.
Ben started with Sokka, his voice steady and resolute. "Sokka, I need you to get the elderly and children on Appa. You'll be in charge of the reins." Then, he turned to Katara. "Katara, I need to rely on you today. You'll be on Appa's saddle, defending the people."
Finally, he addressed Aang, gesturing for him to follow as they herded the people into their designated areas around Appa. With everyone arranged, Ben raised his voice in a commanding tone.
"I apologize for the early wake-up call, but something of utmost importance has arisen," he declared. His purple lightsaber ignited, its eerie hue cutting through the darkness as he held it in his offhand. "The cavern's beasts are in this cave with us. The tour guide informed me that we've unwittingly entered their nest. We must fight our way out now."
Ben had been expecting the age-old tribal bickering to erupt into a cacophony of blame and argument. However, to his surprise, the tribespeople quietly fell in line with his command. He turned away from the two tribes, the young exile following the lumbering form of Appa as he approached the elderly tour guide.
His boots reverberated through the cavern, the echoes mingling with a strange, almost palpable tension in the air. But then it happened, so suddenly and unexpectedly that even Ben's quick reflexes were caught off guard. A leathery, grotesque tongue shot out from the abyss of the cave's darkness, a reddish-pink appendage that snaked around the old man's lower thigh.
"Old man!" Ben's scream of alarm pierced the cavern. His right hand lashed out, fingers extending as he used the Force to wrench the old man away from the encroaching darkness. The old man's body went rigid as the tongue tried to yank him into the depths.
"Aang!" Ben's voice was an urgent cry, reaching out to Team Avatar and the tribespeople who were now beginning to comprehend the dire situation. It became apparent that the beast lurking in the cave was using its grotesque tongues to snatch the old man away.
But Ben was resolute. He wouldn't let the old man be claimed by this monstrous entity. Still, he was quickly realizing he had little choice in the matter. Multiple leathery tongues encircled him, their touch like searing acid as they tightened their grip on his flesh. One snaked around his right wrist, crushing his hand and causing his lightsaber to fall with a clatter to the floor. More tongues coiled around his right shin and left thigh, forcibly yanking him off his feet and slamming him onto the unforgiving stone.
The impact was brutal, and Ben's vision exploded with stars as pain radiated from the gash on his forehead, blood seeping from the wound. And then it happened, a sickening crunch and snap, the unmistakable sounds of bones breaking as the monstrous Sith creatures delved deeper into the old man's body.
With sheer determination and anger blazing in his eyes, Ben shot up, wrenching the severed tongues from his body and quickly turning his attention to Sokka. The young warrior was grasping Ben's ignited purple lightsaber, its unfamiliar weight causing a grimace of pain and fury to twist his features. Sokka sliced at the monstrous tongues with fierce determination, the burnt nubs of the beast's severed appendages repelling them back into the shadows. His war cry resounded, echoing through the cavern with raw intensity.
Ben rose to his feet, catching sight of Sokka's valiant struggle. "Ben..." Sokka began, but before he could finish, Ben leaped into action. He stared into the abyss for only a heartbeat before thrusting his palms forward. A surge of potent Force energy erupted, slamming into one of the creatures. The force of the blast snapped its neck and shattered its bones, launching it backward into the darkness in a grotesque splatter.
Another creature attempted to advance, but a powerful gust of wind, summoned by Aang, hurled it back into the black depths. Aang, determined to rescue the old man, made a move toward the abyss, only to be halted by two strong hands. "Ben, what are you doing!" Aang struggled against Ben's powerful grip. "The tour guide is in there. He'll..."
"I know..." Benjamin murmured into Aang's ear, his words a chilling acknowledgment of the grim reality. Aang's eyes widened as the weight of the situation crashed down on him, the stark realization that he was on the brink of allowing the tour guide to meet a gruesome fate, to be devoured alive by those abhorrent creatures.
"Aang, what are you going to do in there...huh, save him?" Ben's words carried the weight of their predicament, and Aang's face contorted with inner turmoil. He understood the gravity of the decision he faced; he simply didn't want to make it. In their group dynamic, Ben was the Jedi, Katara the healer, Sokka the warrior, and Aang, he was the pivotal figure, the one destined to save the world. He couldn't die here, in this dismal and nightmarish place.
"But I can... I'm the Avatar; I have the power too..." Aang's voice wavered with uncertainty.
"He's just one old man, Aang!" Ben's words were a desperate plea, a forceful reminder. He spun the young airbender around, directing his gaze toward Appa and the tribespeople who had gathered around the massive bison. His finger pointed emphatically at them. "We have men, women, and children who need safe passage through this cavern. They need to be led to safety, and they need the Avatar. It's not just them; the world can't afford to let you die here!"
Ben tightened his grip on Aang, who offered no resistance, his resolve crumbling. He dragged Aang back to Appa, and Sokka tossed Ben his lightsaber, its violet blade once more igniting the darkness.
"How did you like swinging this thing around?" Ben quipped toward the young warrior.
Sokka, now armed with his boomerang, climbed up onto Appa, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Now I understand why you and Kiara really like that thing; it was a rush."
The words hung in the air like the echo of an old ghost story, causing a sudden bout of laughter from Katara. Her amusement rippled through the cave, drawing the attention of Sokka and Ben, who both turned their eyes toward her. Her smug expression adorned her features as she wrapped her arms around herself and leaned casually against Appa's massive leg.
"You fancy yourself a Jedi now?" Katara quipped, her voice dripping with playful sarcasm.
Sokka couldn't help but chuckle at the banter, and he shot a sly glance at Ben. "Your words, not mine," he quipped in response to his sister's jest. "What do you think, Ben?" Sokka inquired, curiosity dancing in his eyes.
Ben, however, remained characteristically nonchalant. He shrugged his shoulders, a hint of a grin playing at the corners of his mouth. "Decent," he replied, keeping his response short and to the point.
Katara's laughter bubbled up again, her amusement evident. "Decent," she echoed, her teasing tone underlining the word. "Mediocre warrior and decent Jedi," she added with another playful giggle.
Sokka's expression turned from amused to mildly annoyed, and he pointed an accusatory finger at Ben from his perch atop Appa. "There's no way you're gonna say that," he protested, disbelief coloring his face. "I saved your life, and you're going to say that my skills with your lightsaber were... decent?"
Ben, never one to back down from a verbal exchange, countered with a quick retort. "What can I say?" he quipped with a wry grin. "It's not just a sword; it's an art. You can't become a master swordsman by swinging it like a common blade or treating it like a club."
Sokka shook his head, his annoyance melting into a begrudging smirk. In a hushed voice, he muttered, "Yeah, right. Says the guy who let it slip from his fingers." But his words were too quiet for anyone but him to hear, a subtle jab in the ongoing banter.
As they continued their trek, the monsters made their move once more. One of them lunged from the shadows, aiming for Ben's piercing purple light. Ben felt the danger in the Force, his precognition granting him precious seconds to react. He gripped the lightsaber hilt with both hands and brought it down with force, cleaving the beast from chest to abdomen. A sizzling, grotesque burn marked its demise.
Another creature leaped, but Ben caught it mid-air with the Force, sending it hurtling into its fellow abomination. The relentless march continued, and every time the creatures tried to get closer to the tribespeople, Ben was there to stop them, hacking, slashing, and cleaving with his purple lightsaber.
"Get tighter, create a formation around Appa, and don't break ranks!" Ben's command spurred the others into action, and they followed the young exile's directives.
After what seemed like an eternity of battling the relentless Sith monsters, it was Aang who spotted the bright glimmer of the exit. "Guys, we're almost there!" his triumphant cry rang out. Ben swung his lightsaber downward, a trail of violet light following as he struck down another Sith abomination.
But then it happened. A profound darkness descended upon them, a malevolent presence that wrapped around their throats and filled them with a paralyzing terror. "This feeling..." Katara murmured, her water whip collapsing to the ground as she lost control of it.
Sokka and Aang felt it too, that sinister force gripping at their very souls. Their movements became stilted, as if wading through a thick mire, but Aang managed to muster the will to guide Appa forward, inch by agonizing inch, toward the beckoning exit.
Ben's grip on his lightsaber became a vice, his breath growing shallow as eerie crimson eyes emerged from the suffocating darkness. He recognized that particular one, the cunning leader of this nightmarish pack. Its crimson-hued, armored carapace gleamed in the dim light, its predatory intelligence palpable.
This one was different, a product of dark alchemy that was capable of not just physical prowess, but psychological torment. It possessed a hardened exoskeleton and the power to emit pheromones that ensnared the minds of its victims, unleashing their deepest fears and regrets. Katara was consumed by the grief of her mother's loss, Sokka relived the trauma of his perceived weakness, and Aang grappled with guilt over leaving his people.
Benjamin, however, received a more harrowing punishment. He was forced to confront his own sins, the pain he'd inflicted on his friends when he left for war, the horrors of the Mandalorian Wars, and the ultimate cost of his choices. His inner demons clawed at his sanity, and all he yearned for was release, even death.
The Sith abomination, the Alpha, struck at Ben with a massive claw, the false Jedi too ensnared in his own mental torment to react. He was hurled across the cavern, his body colliding with a cave wall, and then silence. The violet glow of his lightsaber vanished, consumed by the enveloping darkness.
Katara peered over Appa's saddle, her voice a distant whisper. "Ben..." She couldn't see much, only a shadowy form amidst the encroaching abyss. But she clung to the belief that he was a Jedi Knight, one who had defied death countless times. He wouldn't succumb so easily.
"Everyone!" Katara's scream reverberated through the cavern, her voice piercing the chaos. The tribes battled desperately, their spears and swords slashing, driven by the young waterbender's desperate cries. "Don't you dare give up, we're inches from the end!" Katara's voice boomed again.
None dared to look back; for some, even a momentary glance could spell doom. Sokka, however, shattered the grip of his fear. He hurled himself off the saddle and snatched up a discarded weapon from the tumultuous brawl. His fingers clenched around the hilt of a short sword, and he swung it wildly as the sand crawlers momentarily retreated. "Take that, you sons of bitches!" Sokka's shout cut through the cacophony. He believed he was driving them back, believed they cowered in fear.
He couldn't have been more wrong. Cunning and patient, the sand crawlers snapped and hissed, lying in wait for an opportunity. One of them sprang before Sokka, causing the young warrior to scream in sheer terror. Instinctively, he slashed with the short sword, recoiling as the blade found its mark on the creature's flesh.
The sand crawler snapped at him once more, but it retreated abruptly, blood smearing its lips. It snarled and raged, spiraling into a frenzy while Sokka battled his inner turmoil. His hands shook, trembling as they cut through flesh and shattered bone.
It marked the first time the young warrior had dealt a fatal blow, his trembling fingers loosening their grip under the weight of the moment. The scent of blood permeated the cavern. 'I actually hit it. I pierced its flesh,' Sokka mused aimlessly, but the relentless creatures continued to assail him. They lunged again, this time Aang seized his staff.
Aang struck the earth with his staff, unleashing a ferocious gust of air that slammed into the sand crawlers. He employed his superior bending skills, wielding his staff in a whirlwind motion, summoning a tornado that swept through their ranks.
But even that wasn't enough.
A ghastly scream echoed through the cavern, prompting Team Avatar to swivel toward the source. It was one of the animal tribe's men, ensnared by a sand crawler that had clamped its jaws around his abdomen, dragging him deeper into the abyss as he spat up blood.
With the colossal Alpha creature and its pack relentlessly pursuing them, there was no aid forthcoming. Fear began to encircle them, a pervasive force that seemed inescapable. 'Silence...' Ben stirred, the effort to move even a muscle now agonizing. All he craved was sleep, a respite from the torment.
He strained to narrow his eyes open, the aftermath of the collision having plunged the false Jedi into unconsciousness. Yet, it was the plight of those being snatched away that began to rouse the young Jedi. Fear and agony flowed through him, granting him strength from the dark side of the Force.
The pain coursed within him; he despised that power, loathed drawing from the dark side, but in the relentless onslaught, how could he resist?
One of the sand crawlers, detached from the writhing pack, crouched low, its movements measured, predatory. It inched closer to the fallen Jedi, jaws snapping hungrily in anticipation of its quarry. Yet, the unexpected unfolded. Ben rallied himself, legs quivering as the force surged within him, driven by his unwavering commitment to his comrades.
The creature lunged, its maw wide, a blur of sinew and appetite. In a flash, Ben surged to his feet, legs unsteady but fueled by the force. With his right hand outstretched, he snatched the beast from the air, suspending it with the invisible weight of the force. The creature's limbs clawed at empty space, its movements growing increasingly frantic, a whimper of fear escaping its gaping jaws. The pressure from Ben's force grip tightened, the creature's struggles growing more erratic, until an abrupt snap echoed through the cavern, its lifeless form crumpling to the ground.
With his lightsaber back in hand, igniting with a violet blaze, Ben strode toward his beleaguered friends. Even from a distance, he could see the dire straits they faced. Aang fought valiantly with his staff, Sokka wielded his blade with wild abandon, and Katara commanded with the authority of a true leader.
Yet, the relentless beasts persisted, dragging more tribespeople into the abyss, casualties of a battle that seemed increasingly unwinnable. Ben's gaze shifted toward the Alpha, a colossal barrier they couldn't surmount.
A desperate, childlike voice pierced the chaos, the girl from earlier, pleading for help. Ben's eyes widened with recognition and urgency; the children and elderly were stranded atop Appa, their lives hanging in the balance. His breath hitched as he glanced around, his vision converging on those luminous lights that bolstered his resolve. The people who needed him, who needed a Jedi more than ever.
"Force Lightning," the voice echoed, insidious and haunting. It was the same voice Ben had heard before, the ancient Sith Lord from within the cave or perhaps the Sith Holocron nestled in his pocket; the source didn't matter now. Light side or dark side, power in any form was his need. "Teach me," he grunted, determination overcoming hesitation, the voice's malevolent laughter lingering in the depths of his fractured mind.
"You truly are a lively one," the voice taunted. "You shall make a formidable Lord of the Sith." The voice offered guidance on Force Lightning, the power to electrocute one's enemies with raw fury. It spoke of summoning lightning, of harnessing and controlling it through the searing pain buried deep within. "To revel in the insanity and power," the voice hissed.
Benjamin absorbed the teachings voraciously, a hunger unquenched. "Light Side...Dark Side...merely tools," he muttered like a mantra, delving deep into the Force, an ominous promise echoing within his psyche.
Ben, in that dark and unforgiving cavern, chose a different path. He embraced the pain of his life, channeling it into a relentless pursuit of power and control. The memories of his father's brutality, of his mother's suffering, they welled up within him, but instead of drowning in self-loathing and fear, he turned them into a source of strength and purpose.
Amidst the echoing laughter of the Sith Lord, Ben's fingers crackled with violet sparks of force lightning. They danced around his hands, coiling like serpents, before snaking up to encircle his lightsaber's hilt and blade. His grin widened as he reveled in the euphoria of his newfound control over this formidable power.
The lightning streaked from his fingertips, weaving a mesmerizing spectacle of purple brilliance. His eyes, once shades of blue, now blazed with an euphoric orange of the Sith, the dark side of the cave infusing him with power as the purple radiance illuminated the entire cavern.
Yet, a flicker of doubt, a voice of reason, crossed his mind briefly. "I am doing it again, looking for a reason to use the dark side." The thought tried to take root, but Ben shook it off. In this moment, all that mattered was the fight.
His hands raised toward the Alpha, his right still clutching the hilt of his lightsaber, as tendrils of violet energy erupted from his fingertips. They struck the massive creature head-on, and its monstrous frame contorted in agony, releasing a harrowing scream that pierced the very heavens.
Alpha slumped, burn marks marring its form, and the other crawlers shared in its torment through their telepathic connection. The tribesmen seized the opportunity, racing past the writhing horde, with Appa following closely. Sokka's frantic cry reached Ben's ears, urging him to flee.
"Go," Ben echoed, his maniacal laughter subsiding. "I won't run from mere animals."
But Sokka's words struck a chord. They reminded Ben of his mission, helping him break free from the sinister influence that had ensnared him. His eyes began to return to their normal hue as he ran alongside Team Avatar, leaving the cavern and emerging into the liberating sunlight. Even then, as they stepped into the warmth of the sun, Ben couldn't shake the lingering voice in his mind.
"Oh, but you already have," it whispered, a foreboding reminder of what lay ahead, of the irrevocable changes that had taken hold of Benjamin.