Author Note: There is another author note down below after this chapter, please read it. Alright, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter. We are nearly up to chapter 50 and 2/3 of the way done with Book 2. Can't wait until we get through these couple of other chapters. Likewise, I may have to redo or edit this chapter some more on a later date. I've been feeling really sick and my head is hurting pretty badly but I really wanted to get this chapter up. Thank you for reading and please have a wonderful awesome day. Remember to follow, favorite, and review for it greatly helps with my motivation and my frequency in updating. Have a good day!
Chapter 48
It had been less than a week since Ben was saved from the clutches of the Sith. The young Jedi was back where he belonged, with his true family. They had docked in a clearing deep within the Earth Kingdom territory.
Ben liked it here, a complete contrast to the other nations. The Earth Kingdom, a rich place full of plains and large expanses of forest. You could feel the life and the blessing of the force that was carried here. Ben sat upon the decline of a small mountain leading to said forest.
Appa lounged behind him; the large bison had been resting a lot lately. Aang alluded to the fact that the bison had been in far more situations that it needed to fly very quickly. Ben's ears picked up the large bison's snores as he looked upon them.
Ben was back, wearing a new pair of clothes. His robes and armor were discarded, a remanent to the old Ben and what he was to the Sith. Back then he didn't give much thought to why the Sith let him keep the robes, but it had struck him eventually…not due to the dark side but to the sinister comparison both held.
The deep black robes and the armor underneath heavily mirrored the other Dark Jedi and even The Dark Lord himself…Lord Fowl.
Ben didn't want to wear them anymore and choose to cast them away. Instead, he was wearing something faintly resembling his old outfit. A sleek reddish-brown jacket bought from one of the stores in the fire nation with a pair of blue worker pants. A set of worker boots and two dueling gloves to cover up his false arm.
Likewise, a hair tie to tie his hair back into the bun. Yet even then he was starting to get sick of his hair. Lightly running his fingers through the locks as he began to wonder if it was time to go back to the old haircut and cut it short once again.
He watched upon his two apprentices, Aang and Toph were deeper within the woods practicing earth bending but he gazed upon those two. "Ty Lee, fix your feet." Ben remarked. Ty Lee and Jet breaking from there duel as she quickly nodded with his statement. Quickly throwing herself back into the form as she reengaged Jet.
For the last week Ben had taken Ty Lee under his wing as a Jedi apprentice. Giving her his old lightsaber blade as he would slowly train her in the way of the Jedi. He watched as Jet let out a flurry of attacks, releasing a mighty torrent of cyan light as Ty Lee rushed to defend.
The girl's grey eyes, filling with the torrent of light as she rushed to defend. Administering a rudimentary defense. Yet…
With a swift hit, her lightsaber flew out of her hands. The blade quickly being enveloped back into the hilt. Ben raising his hand as he drew upon the force, catching the spinning weapon as he kicked himself off the rock.
"Good job, Ty Lee." He spoke.
The girl slowly lightening up, but just as quickly, her features went neutral. "What, but I lost." She responded.
Ben shook his head. Handing her back her lightsaber as she reconnected it back to her belt. "You've made wonderful progress. Seriously, you just need to keep practicing and you'll get the hand of it." He spoke. Turning towards his other apprentice as Jet turned off his own blade. "You too, Jet. Your skills have rapidly improved."
"Thanks Ben, I really appreciate it."
They began to walk back to the camp. Likewise, Toph and Aang had just finished training. Jet and Ty Lee parting to do their own thing as Ben walked over towards Aang. "Hey, how are you doing?"
Aang raised his gaze towards Ben. "Fine, I am a little bit sore from all that work Toph has me doing." Aang responded back. The young airbender cracking his neck. "We got a lot of time to make up…"
Aang spoke carelessly. His eyes wavering as even he felt it, Ben's back sinking as a dark void formed. "Ben, I didn't mean it like…"
"No, it's okay." Ben waved off. Slowly shaking that dark aura off him. "Your right, I did something selfish. By going out on my own I jeopardized everyone."
"Ben, you're reading too deeply into it. We don't blame you for what happened." Aang explained. Yet, it was almost like a lightbulb appeared in his head as he spoke those words. "Think about it like this. It was a lesson, you realized that you couldn't do everything on your own and this was a learning experience, that was the way the monks taught us."
Ben let the words reach his head. Yeah, he did mess up…badly even. It wasn't a little slip, but he did fall to the dark side. In the Sith Academy, Lord Ruin accomplished his mission and made him fall in the end. Without Ty Lee and without his friends he would've stayed within that dark place and who knows what he could've done.
Such thoughts scared him, and these past couple of days he had been plagued by those sinister what ifs. Yet, he would stay calm and take a deep breath. They were simply thoughts and ruminations that never came to past.
"Your right. That was wise of you." Ben said. Letting a smile form across his face.
Aang popping his own smile. "What do you mean, wise? I'm the avatar."
The two let out a brief chuckle as they turned back o the camp. There friends already waiting for them around the campfire. Ben and Aang both taking a seat as they began to scoop out their food into metal bowls.
Stew, Ben picking through the earthy vegetables as he sunk his spoon into the brown broth. It had been a long day of training so he wasn't surprised when Aang, Ty Lee, and Jet sunk into their meals ravenously.
Toph and Katara took their seats along the campfire. Joining the group as a silence filled through the air. "So, how was the fire nation?" Toph spoke up.
Ben slowly dropping his spoon in the bowl as he turned towards the girl. Lightly shrugging his shoulders as he began to chew through his food. "It was alright, I guess. Shockingly, the Sith were pretty welcomed there."
"Welcomed?" Katara repeated. "But they were Sith, like Kiara."
"I know, what I thought at first was that they were all these borderline psychotic people like Kiara. Yet, I guess that was arrogant of me to think. Yes, I do believe that the teachings of the Sith played a role in warping her but there was something else…"
Ben began to go in depth of his experiences with the Sith. His teammates slowly stopping there eating to listen to Ben's stories and what he had encountered there. "Children…" Jet slowly spoke the words. Gracing his lips as his fingers combed through his locks of hair. "There training children into Dark Jedi?"
Ben slowly nodded. Ty Lee snapping her head to attention, parting her lips to speak. "Like the Jedi? Isn't that what they used to do. Find the kids when they were young or toddlers and train them to become Jedi Knights."
"Yeah, isn't that why it was such a big deal about your age?" Toph added on.
Ben slowly nodded with their assessments. "Yeah, your right. But the Sith from my knowledge have never done this on such a scale. I have heard stories of children born from Dark Jedi and were trained by their parents or from assigned masters. The last Sith Lords, Exar Kun and Freedon Nadd did not do such things."
Ben clicked his lips. The heat ray vision of their stares peering at him. "They have copied what the Jedi have done. Twisted and manipulated it within the darkness. They find children when they are young, either kidnap them from their family or kill their family. They abduct them and groom them into powerful warriors of the Dark Side."
There was a resounding silence as Ben uttered those final words. All hitting them like a truck as they each realized it. All this time, for over a hundred years these Dark Jedi possibly never had another option or choice.
Their lives were predestined to become monsters. At times, Ben would think back to his first day at the academy. Watching that young girl clutch onto her teddy bear as an older apprentice would hold onto her hand so she wouldn't separate from her. "This whole time, we've been fighting child soldiers that were brainwashed…" Jet aimlessly spoke. The retort following along his lips.
He couldn't believe it. His mind went back to those Dark Jedi during the Siege of The North. Were they all just like him? Boys and girls filled with hatred from experiences that they never wanted to go through.
Yet, Ben's eyes firmly locked along his apprentice. "Jet, I get that you feel guilty right now. But don't let that dull your blade. That goes too all of you." The words striking like lightning as they emptied from Ben's mouth. Team Avatar silently stunned. "Yes, they most likely did not have a choice in their future. But that doesn't change the fact that they are out to kill or capture us. We can't show mercy against them."
The words slowly filled team avatar's minds. Sure, they were conflicted, but Ben spoke the truth. They couldn't show no quarter to these fallen Jedi. Maybe, when the world was secure, Ben would seek them out and try to put them back onto the path of the light. Yet only time could tell.
Sokka broke through the brush. Pine needles and leaves decorating his outfit as he heaved from breath. The group silently staring at him as his eyes drew to the group.
"Fire Nation, a whole lot of them are coming!"
They didn't even need to respond. The campfire was just as quickly kicked, rendering the once vibrant flames into dark grey clouds of smoke. The sleeping bags were quickly retied and tossed upon the saddle as…
"Come on, Appa." Aang spoke. Lightly patting the bison as the rest of team avatar piled along his back. Aang repeating the trademark sign for the bison to fly but the only thing Appa could produce was a mild roar.
"What's going on?" Jet said.
Aang sighing. Getting off from the bison as his gaze turned towards Jet. "Our escape from the fire nation and trekking back to the Earth Kingdom has Appa way too tired to fly. We need to find a different way out."
Toph's eyes widened leaping off the bison as she outstretched her hand. "I feel a cave system. What happens if we just cut through the cave, and I'll lead us outside."
"A cave…" Ben replied.
His memories reeling back all those months ago. After he had built his lightsaber, he and Team Avatar had aided a pair of competitive tribes to cut through a cave system. Unknown to all of them, it was home to powerful creatures warped by the Dark Side of the Force.
That was the place in which Ben was gifted the Holocron of the long dead Sith Lord, Exar Kun. The place in which he began his dark decent. Without taking upon the knowledge of the Dark Side he wouldn't have been able to stall the beast and all his comrades, and the people of the tribe would've died!
"We don't have any other option." Katara spoke. Her eyes towards Ben almost like she was able to read his thoughts. "It's a cave system. Ben with the power of the force can possibly feel any danger, and Toph can read the movements with her earth bending."
Katara's eyes filled back up with a vibrant power. Her voice etching as her voice filled with determination. "We can do this."
It had taken them nearly a full hour of constant walking to reach the cave entrance. However, as they arrived, they could see the smoke clouds of the fire nation war machine. They were on their tracks, and they needed to move.
The cave wasn't anything to truly note. It sunk into the ground and the brief sunlight enveloped a slight path to travel through. There were vines that draped over it like blanket, testament of how old and unused the path truly was.
Ben and Toph both walked side by side. Closing their eyes as they both sunk into their disciplines. Toph, sinking into her bending techniques to feel if there was anything to note within the cave system. Likewise, to check if the cave was simply a dead end and how long it would take to traverse through it.
Ben on the other hand had sunk into the force. Feeling through the pores of force energy to see if he could possibly detect any sort of Dark Side Power. Yet, as both teens opened their eyes, they felt…nothing.
"There is a way through that will lead to the other side. I can lead us through it." Toph spoke.
Ben nodding along as he turned back to his friends. "No dark side here. It just feels empty."
Yet, right before anyone could utter any sentence. They could hear the whirs of fire nation war machines coming towards them. All of them quickly huddling into the cave. The illumination of the sun quickly…
But right as they clamped onto flat ground, they heard the creaking of the machines stop. Whirling their large fire balls forward along the cavern's entrance. Just as quickly snuffing the light with their own created barricade.
Team Avatar was swiftly consumed by the darkness as they gazed around. Ben's hands drew upon his lightsaber blade. Clicking the ignition.
The dark azure blade brightened up his and his companions faces. In unison Jet's cyan and Ty Lee's violet filled the dark expanse as Sokka began to climb on top of Appa to light up a couple of torches.
After he was rescued from the Sith. Ben had rearranged the crystals of his lightsaber. The Qixoni and the Lignan were back in their proper place. But his synthetic crystal was now back as his main focusing crystal.
It felt nice. Seeing the blur of brilliant deep blue plasma. It reminded him of oceans, of water tribe culture, the soothing calmness of the unending rivers. The light kept him tethered. In contrast, the red was vibrant and violent. Filling him with deep anger, hatred, reminding him of dark vibrant flames.
Yet, the blue drew him back. As the torches were passed around, he unignited his weapon. Reattaching it back to his belt as he took a torch in hand as they began to follow Toph as the girl led the way. Being in the caverns slowly stilled him.
It was deathly quiet. The only sound that could be heard was there footsteps echoing along the deep underground as Ben pushed on. His memories drawing back to that one time he was in the cavern just like this.
He had locked upon those teachings, and it had taught him how to gain strength and focus within his force lightning. He wasn't a fool; he knew he had to change, and he would change. But he also knew that his powers did not lie within the light side of the force.
Light and Dark, merely just tools. Such a simple phrase and Ben for a time believed that it held truth. He still did, mostly. Yet had he truly followed it?
The thought caused his eyes to widen. Light side and Dark Side, to view them as tools. They were simply abilities that any force user could use but the reasoning for using them mattered…if the cause was just and if the situation required it.
Against Dark Lords, against powerful creatures, and even against things that needed to be zapped with electricity. It seemed just if he truly needed it, but he would always need to control his emotions in that state. Yet, in moments in which he didn't require it or using it would be considered overkill.
Maybe, that was the answer in a way. Ben for a time felt content in a strange way. Thinking it over as he began to steep deeper within his new philosophy. 'Abilities are not inherently good or evil, it's how you use them.'
If he used force lightning for the right reasons, he wouldn't fall. But to abuse too much of a good thing would spell disaster. So, he needed to practice moderation now. Just like what Ty Lee and Meetra said. He had to forever push himself to get stronger and to just be better.
Yet, those thoughts were quickly interrupted. A sound, a rupturing sound as something cracked underneath Ben's foot broke through his thoughts. Slowly raising his boot as his false arm went towards the item.
The rest of team avatar stopping as they eyed Ben. "What is that?" Sokka questioned. The young warrior's eyes drawing towards Ben's hand.
Ben in response shrugging his shoulders, bringing the light closer to his hand to get a better look at what he had…
His eyes widening. Drawing closer as his golden orbs peered along the bone. It was half the size of his arm. Snapped in half from his boot as the chewed up remains dazzled under the orange light. "It's a bone." His eyes drawing towards Toph as the young girl's own widened as Ben's words reached her ears. "Toph, I thought you didn't feel anything down here?"
"I didn't. There was nothing."
"Nothing, these things are pretty gnawed on." Sokka commented. Jet now outstretching his hand with the torch.
"Guys…" He slowly spoke as the fresh illumination began to brighten their surroundings. Corpses, chewed on and gnawed corpses were all over. All bones showing that they have been here for a very long time.
Katara instantly gripping her water pouch together. Knowing that full well something wasn't right down here. Ty Lee's own grip going along her new lightsaber, even knowing that she had started training and didn't hold a proficiency with the weapon…holding onto it filled her with a sense of security.
"What is even going on?" Aang asked. Yet, the force sensitives felt it first. A roaring powerful darkness, seeping into the cracks of the cave as they strung towards them with greater speed than any of the Fire Nations machinations.
Ben instantly reeling back, letting the force direct his attacks. Tossing his torch into the expanse of darkness as he saw it…monsters. "Aang!" Ben screamed. Drawing his lightsaber with the force into his right hand, the bright azure blade filling the void of darkness as he used his left hand to wrench Aang away with the force.
The monster, it was huge. The size of a bear with acidic yellow skin. Long claws the size of kitchen knives as it's three orange eyes peered along Ben. It's oily smooth skin glistening over the orange flame as Ben reeled into action.
Sliding under the creature as he lashed back into place. Gripping the weapon with both hands as the creature sunk it's razor like claws into the floor. Roaring as it pounced once again. Ben diverting the first attack, the second coming to him in a sweeping arc as he pivoted his feet to create distance. Whirling his body as the creature once again leaped to try to ensnare him.
Yet, Ben wasn't going to allow it to happen. Whirling his blade into a singular stroke. His lightsaber cleaving a brilliant searing arc as the monster collapsed in two.
There were two more. Toph already dealing with the first, creating two earth walls that had penned the creature in. As Ty Lee and Jet moved forward along it. There lightsaber blades already ignited as Jet formed a mighty cleave, lopping off the monster's head as Ty Lee moved to engage the third, yet she froze.
Fumbling within her stance as the creature struck her plasma blade. The skin cauterized off as it howled, Ty Lee slowly moving backwards as the girl was frozen in fear. Ben threw out his hand, welling with mighty force energy as the creature was blown away like a leaf to wind.
Katara and Sokka were having a much more difficult time. Katara reeling her water bending flask, opening it as the liquid wrapped along the beast throat like a noose. Slowly drowning it as Sokka's boomerang cut through the air, slamming, and ingraining itself into the thickness of the monster's skin.
Yet, it broke free. The harsh torrent of water seeped into its skin, mingling with blood and muscle tissue. But Katara didn't have the strength to hold on as the creature swiftly broke. Sinking it's claws into the base of Katara's arm, snapping its teeth along Sokka's shoulder.
The water tribe siblings scream filling the cavern as Ben reeled into action. His fingers dazzling with power, the violet lights of force lightning dancing along his palm as he took aim. The sparks hit the creature head on, splintering it along the wall as it was freshly launched.
The simmering of its skin filled the expanse as he raised up his left arm. The cracks slowly dying out as he walked over towards his injured comrades. "Guys!" Aang screamed. Running over towards Katara as he went into her satchel, pulling out a bandage as he helped her wrap the bleeding wound. Likewise, Sokka did the same.
"It's fine Aang, honestly the creature bite or claw was not that deep. Honestly, we just need to make sure that we check with a doctor. But I feel fine." Sokka spoke. Yet, Ben could tell the feign within his words. They were obviously in pain. Yet, there was something else drawing towards Sokka's mind. His eyes going towards the fallen creatures. "What are these things? I've never seen them."
Ben and the rest of team Avatar approached the creature that Ben had cut down. Mostly due to the fact that it was predominantly intact. Staring at it for a second as they peered along the strange beast.
"I don't know. Being the avatar, I was taught by many tutors." Aang explained. Taking a knee as he dropped to get a closer look. But in the next second shaking his head. "But I've never seen anything like this before…"
Yet, it had hit him like a truck. Ben's eyes widening in alarm as his body went rigid. Like he had taken a plunge into a deep ice bath. "Rakghouls."
The word came from his lips. Yet even he didn't believe it. Team Avatar turning towards him as he uttered the name. "Rakghouls, that's what they are?" Jet questioned.
"Yeah, that's what they were called. They were very uncommon in my galaxy before I crash landed on this world. I didn't know that they were here too." Ben took a knee just like Aang as he spoke those words. Closing his eyes as his hand went along it's oily skin. He could feel it, the dark side.
He knew that he didn't feel anything and likewise Toph didn't feel anything down here. Yet, as those creatures approached the dark side aura of this place had only grown. Maybe, they weren't moving, maybe they were detected…and they simply awakened.
"They were caused from a plague on Taris. No one knows where it came from, but these things were all human once…"
Ben's words graced their ears. Yet, it didn't find a place. Because they felt it all, a powerful wave of dark side energy funneling along their movements. Ben's lightsaber already in hand as he pushed himself through team Avatar. Already hearing the growls of the other rakghouls approach.
But it was a figure that loomed in the middle of the pack. Her light blue eyes dazzling through the darkness as they were aimed at the team. Her right hand outstretched as the creatures growled at Ben and the rest of his companions.
"Back! I am in control once again, heed my command!" The woman yelled. Her voice traveling through the cavern with a boom.
She wore slim white Jedi robes covered by light grey plate armor. Her pale skin glistened underneath the torch light as her deep black hair was tied into one long braid. Still, it was the lightsaber that dangled along her belt that drew the most attention.
As she walked closer towards them it all began to grow clearer…there was the taint of the dark side, the source. Ben feeling it within the air as his grip along his weapon grew tighter. But there was something else there, something deep underneath the surface as well. As he stared upon this woman, he didn't know what to think!
Yet, the feeling of darkness that emanated had grown stronger and Ben had grown used to feeling the dark side of the force and he could pinpoint the source. It wasn't the woman, rather the strange item that clung along her throat like a chain.
It was ornate, coiled along like a scorpion with gold tendrils and red rubies ingrained into the metal. The power within the item was full. The weight of it could nearly cause Ben to shake in his foot as the feeling of the dark side urged him on.
Yet, he didn't take the strength. "What are you…" Ben spoke. The woman turning towards him, almost like she didn't even realize his presence. "I can feel the dark side within you from a mile away now. Why were you hiding your presence!"
Yet, as the woman's lips moved to answer. Her eyes drew towards the WaterTribe siblings nursing their wounds. "No, you've been bitten…scratched."
A mighty wave of force energy was aimed towards them. Ben instinctively gripping Ty Lee as he drew the girl closer to him. Her not being strong enough to draw a force barrier as his grip tightened along her frame.
Toph creating a mighty earth wall, fit with foundations as Aang was rooted in spot. Aiding his master in keeping the ceiling from raining down on them. Yet, they had failed to realize what this woman was after.
A mighty pull drew upon the water tribe siblings collapsing behind the woman as they quickly sprayed along the floor. Ben would've reached out to try and stop her, but it was already too late. The groundbreaking underneath the remainder of team avatar.
Their bodies thrown into the deep abyss as they faded into nothingness. There forms completely consumed by oblivion and the abyss.
Yet not all…
A cyan bladed weapon brightened up the view. Jet, perched over a stable rock formation as he leaped over the expanse. The woman, surprised. Drawing upon the force as she gripped her lightsaber with both hands. A brilliant yellow blade filling the dark room as Jet swung down with a mighty cleave. Brilliant sparks encompassing the two powerful force users as he leaped over her. Tossing himself into his combat stance as Katara and Sokka joined the fray as the woman turned back.
"You want to die, Sith!" Jet screamed. Tossing himself into Ataru as he leveled his weapon in front of the dark side warrior. "Bring it on!" He dared back.
Yet, she merely shook her head, disgust filling her face at the words. "Sith!" She snapped back. Leveling her weapon behind her as the bright yellow light illuminate her beautiful features. Her other hand going towards her chest. "My name is Celeste Morne and I am a Jedi of The Republic."
"Ben, wake up!"
Ty Lee's voice filled his ears. Feeling her fingers wrap along his body as she rapidly tried to shake him awake. His eyes snapping open as his own hands connected to the ground. His eyes zoning in on the dark surroundings, the only torch was the violet blade that was within Ty Lee's hand.
Ben's eyes snapped in all directions. Yet, he couldn't feel anything anymore. Almost like the dark side presence overshadowed everything within the cave. He picked himself up, shutting his eyes as he tried to steep deeper within the force.
He sunk into the endless stream of force energy. Trying to feel along the edges of the bond between apprentice and master, the bond he and Jet shared. Yet, he couldn't feel anything.
Frustrated, his thoughts dawning on him as he looked around. Lashing out his right hand as the cylindrical hilt of his lightsaber zipped to his hand. "How long have I been out?"
"I don't know. I just woke up and I saw you unconcise."
Ben's face quickly turned sour. His eyes going towards the roof of the cavern to see how far of a drop it had to be. But he couldn't even see anything up there anymore, just a complete void. "Damn it, I didn't even detect any presence here. Toph didn't as well. We stumbled into another Dark Jedi's trap again."
Ben spat the words. His fingers combing into fist as his eyes glossed over towards Ty Lee. The girl still frozen, a distinct rigid forming over her body as she let out hollowed breaths. "Ty Lee?" He spoke the girls name once again. Knocking her free from her stupor.
The girl's brownish eyes zoning back in on him as her violet lightsaber collapsed from her hands. The blade vanishing back into the hilt as Ben just as quickly snapped on his blue lightsaber blade. Blanketing them in a brilliant azure light.
Holding the weapon in his left hand as his right hand went to Ty Lee, taking a knee as he stared upon her eyes. "Ty Lee, what's wrong?"
"Ben, I messed up. With that monster…with that woman, I hardly responded. I got afraid and I froze." She spoke. Her teeth gritted as that carefree aura of hers was gone, now it was filled with fear and anxiety. "Is this truly right for me. Was there a mistake…can I really handle being a Jedi?"
Ben let out a sigh. Rising as his right-hand left Ty Lee's shoulder and now was raised down in an open gesture. "Get up, we don't have time for this." Ben spoke. The words rough and not laced with honey. Ty Lee staring at the palm for a while longer. "I told you before that the path of the Jedi was going to be extremely hard. This was your first time going against a creature and a Dark Jedi. You acted how any normal person did…"
Her hand slowly rose to meet his own. Yet, that hesitation was there again. "But even during training I…"
"We take what is given, Ty Lee. We do what we must…learn from the experience and move on. Hesitation, it's the silent killer."
Ben's words laced the normal ease they usually caried. All the times he has trained with Jet, Haru, and now Ty Lee he held a very supportive and open training regimen. He did not hold any secrets, or anything back and always wished to support his students wanting the best for them.
Yet right now he didn't hold such things. He wouldn't allow Ty Lee to fall into the pit of hesitation or self-hate due to the past. She was a Jedi Apprentice; she had a long way to go and he wouldn't coddle her into thinking that learning the way of the Jedi was going to make her into a supreme being.
Ty Lee let out a heavy breath, evening herself as the words touched upon her head. Her breathing and compose back to normal as she got up. Walking by his side as her blade was reignited leading down the path in which they hoped to be reunited with their comrades.
Aang and Toph moved with rapid fire precision. The Earth Bending Master and her Adept Apprentice funneled through the cave system. Their eyes locking in all directions as the brief sparkle of minerals provided a meager source of light.
"I can hardly see anything in here Toph!" Aang's voice boomed through there man-made tunnel system. Toph simply nodding in response. Yet, through the darkness Aang could hardly see it.
They've been at it for a long while. After that Dark Jedi destroyed the foundation of the cavern and the other members of their team was separated. Toph created a mighty barrier to protect herself and Aang.
"I don't need to see. Follow the movements and keep on going, I can feel their movements…finally!" Toph triumphantly explained and cheered. Feeling the pressure of multiple people along the cavern, finally.
"I don't know how that woman avoided me, but I won't allow it to happen again!"
The earth bender let out a confident smirk. Aang simply following in his base Earth bending movements as both master and apprentice both used there bending discipline to push through the cavern. Breaking and molding the Earth to suit their needs as the pathway continued to grow.
Jet reeled, his cyan blade casting off a brilliant flurry of attacks. Clashing along the self-proclaimed Jedi of The Republic. Jet had fought many enemies. The Sith Warrior that him and his freedom fighters had to deal with, fire nation troops, and even Dark Jedi that came along their paths.
Yet, none of them held a candle to this Celeste Morne. Every time he felt confident, every time he thought he could find a weakness in her defense. He was simply repelled backwards, slammed away with a mighty barrel of kinetic force energy.
He danced along her blade. Tossing himself into the air to avoid the yellow beam of plasma as his own lightsaber created a brilliant dance of his own. Welling with power as the cyan weapon casted off a brief lightshow of sparks.
Tossing himself onto a wall as he switched his hilt positioning, adopting a reverse grip hold of his weapon. Morne witnessed it, slashing to defend, but too slow to see the arch that winded along her shoulder.
Grimacing in pain as the beam of plasma sunk along her skin but not enough to cleave. Jet was feeling confident again. Yet, those feelings were just as quickly dashed away. Her eyes…sunk into redness, sinking into deep pores of the Sith.
"Enough, insolent child!" Her voice boomed along the cavern.
Jet's form stopped midair. His lightsaber collapsing from his hands as he was thrown, flying across the room as his back slammed into the base of the wall. Rolling over as he fell towards Katara and Sokka's side.
"Jet!" The siblings screamed. Running over towards there friend as Katara's water flask quickly was unopened. Healing the wound that had formed as Jet so desperately tried to rise. Yet, the Jedi Apprentice was both too tired and worn out to do such things.
Morne approached, the dark side fueling her movements as she stopped for a second. Quickly shutting her eyes and shaking her head as the bright blue of her eyes turned back to normal. Her left hand seizing the base of her head, almost like a headache was seizing her.
"Enough…" She once again said. This time much softer, approaching the siblings and the apprentice. "I wish to know why you are here and where am I?"
Her lightsaber was unignited. The blade reattached to her belt as for a second Jet could feel the dark side slowly steep off of her. "What are you talking about. If you're a Jedi, you're from this world aren't you?" Jet snapped.
"This world…"
Celeste's words filled her lips. Her blue eyes zoning in on the trio. "I am a Jedi of The Republic. I was tasked with finding ancient Sith Artifacts…"
Jet's laugh cut through her speech. Rising as his lightsaber flew back into his hand. "Jedi? Don't try and lie to me…I can feel the stench of Sith completely over you."
Her hands looped along her throat, her fingers prickling along the strange jewels. "If you feel the Dark Side within me. Then it is due to this talisman I wear. I have been bound to a long dead Sith Lord for many years." The words rose from her lips. Her eyes darting towards Jet as well as they focused on him. "Darkness lies deeply within you and the other that you traveled with…maybe that was why my presence was reawakened. Karness Murr, he must've felt your power."
The words reached their heads. Yet, it was Katara who spoke first. "Republic, like the ones Ben used to follow…are you not from this world?"
"Not from this world?" Celeste spoke back. Her eyes aiming towards the water bending girl. "I was sealed away in confinement on the icy plains of Jebble during the Mandalorian Wars. The planet was bombed, and everything went…"
Her fingers went back to the base of her head. Her lips tightening as her eyes narrowed. Almost like she was dealing with something deeper within herself, within her mind. "The black hole." Jet aimlessly repeated. Celeste's eyes widening. "My master, Benjamin, the other force sensitive you felt. He tried to escape from the Sith and he fell into something called a black hole. I don't really know what that means but my master said that this one shut down and practically fried his ship's machinery. He stated that anything that went either in or out would be lucky to survive. But there would be no way back to his old galaxy."
Celeste's eyes widened at the words. She was forever stuck here on this world. Chambered to the spirit of a long dead Sith Lord that would forever haunt her. Yet, her eyes drew towards Jet once again. "I detect your connection to the force. Are you a Jedi?"
Jet slowly nodded. "Yes, my master Ben crash landed on this world a long while ago. He is trying to strive to be a better Jedi and has been trying to rebuild the Jedi Order."
"Rebuild the Jedi Order…"
Katara rose at the words. "Yes, the Sith and the Fire Nation have allied. They have genocided a whole nation and have been using darker powers to pursue world domination."
Sokka jumped up too. Walking to his sister's side. "They've killed a lot of people and destroyed many homes. My mother, my lover Yue, and even the Sith have captured and groomed children into dark side warriors." His eyes went towards the abyss, pointing towards it. "That boy you just tossed into that ravine. His name is Benjamin, and he is the last of the Jedi. We are on a journey to train our friend to defeat the fire nation, and Ben is trying to both amass students and his own power to defeat these other Dark Jedi."
Celeste was quiet for a second. Not only told that she would never be able to return home…but now the legacy of the Jedi was gone. Somehow, another Jedi Order identical to the one back in the galaxy had established themselves on this planet. Yet, they were eradicated.
Now, the Fate and Legacy of The Jedi depended within a sixteen-year-old ex-child soldier. She didn't like those odds. "Then your friends shall surely uphold the rest of your journey." Celeste simply spoke. Her eyes going towards the wrapped-up bandages caused by the rakghouls.
Jet's eyes widening. Obviously knowing that there were more within her words. "What do you mean?"
"Rakghouls, they were a powerful creature of the Sith. Even the smallest scratches are fatal to the individual. They lead to a grotesque and painful transformation."
Katara and Sokka were frozen. Their eyes zoning in on the woman as they nearly reeled back. They were going to die.
"If the talisman is so dangerous…why don't you not just leave it somewhere where no one can find it. Dispose of it somewhere where no one would think to look!" Sokka announced. Screaming at the woman. If this thing was the reason rakghouls were created and she was chained to a Sith Lord than what was the point of keeping it with her.
Celeste clicked her lips. A powerful aura of malignant energy traveling towards him. Rendering him mute as Celeste glared at the young warrior. "…and then what? Have the talisman found again by someone else? Someone who's will is far weaker and shall create an army of rakghouls to conquer this world. No, I am Muur's Cage and he is my prisoner. That is how it must be."
Jet was going to protest. To scream at how insane this was! Yet, Katara's voice stilled him. A deep and ghastly voice filling the cavern. "Jet, I feel…sick."
He lashed his head around. Katara on her knees as blood piled from her eyes and nose. His fingers combing along her chin to get a better look. Sokka, without any uttering simply collapsed. Blood flowing from his mouth and nose.
"Sokka!" He screamed out in shock.
Wrenching the young warrior's body towards him so he wouldn't choke on his own blood. Flipping him over as Celeste Morne began to walk over towards them. The snapping hiss of her lightsaber and the yellow blade enveloping there surroundings. "The transformation is beginning. I apologize, young Jedi and his companions. The only mercy I can give is a quick death."
It had taken nearly thirty minutes of straight walking until Ty Lee and Ben both entered a large area. A massive clearing in the cavern system. It was very flat, nearly smooth to the touch. Large ornate carvings decorated the stone walls as mighty statues were erected from minerals. Ben walked over towards the middle. Seeing a large flat table like object. His lightsaber blade going towards it as the bright azure blade was able to lighten up the strange hieroglyphics. Yet right before they could be read. Ben snapped his eyes open.
The wall to their side was broken. Toph and Aang sculling as they ran towards them. "Toph…Aang!" Ben yelled out. Happy to be with his comrades, yet. "Where is Katara and the rest?"
Toph shook her head. "We've been trying to find them as well, but we got here first."
Aang nodded along but right before his lips could part to speak. They heard it. A powerful scream further down the cavern. Their eyes widening as green sparks generated and enveloped them. That powerful rush of dark side power funneling through the labyrinth like cavern.
"Jet."
Celeste still approached. Katara screaming within Jet's ear from the harsh pain. Jet twisting his head back towards Katara. Holding her tighter. He wouldn't let this happen. He wouldn't let this Jedi or Sith Witch touch his friends. "Wait…" His eyes widening as Celeste stopped. "Ben said that this was like a virus…and infection."
Celeste nodded. "Yes, the Rakghouls inflict upon a wound that could never be recovered from. It's an infection, a plague."
Jet snapped his eyes back towards Katara and Sokka. Both writing in pain as the transformation was evident. "Alright then, you should've said so!" Jet snapped back.
His fingers gripping along their body. Sokka's eyes widening as the sparks generated around both. "Jet, you've never healed two people at once…save Katara and…"
"Quiet!"
Jet's voice funneled a powerful yell. Gripping Sokka's throat with a shocking strength as Sokka's dark blue eyes fixated on Jet's own. Widening as he began to see the warm hazel, slowly warp into the yellow acidic of the Sith. "Now, shut up and let me concentrate!"
He wrenched them into a powerful hold as the green sparks enveloped them. The powerful tendrils wrapping along them like fierce chains along the base of their skin. Wrenching them along their body as their eyes shut from the pure light that it exhibited.
Jet, he was pushing farther than before…his heart hammering along his chest as he felt the power flood him. It felt, so good. This was the true power of the Dark Side of The Force. This power that Ben warned him of, yet why was there such warnings?
This was true power…power that he used to save his friends. Why should he turn away from such things?
Yet, he was reminded of his master's words. The lies, the justification…what he could become? So, he didn't turn to it. He fought within it, feeling the whirl of dark forces but he chambered to those bright lights like his master did. Those memories, those feelings…Katara. The way she looked upon him, and the way he looked upon her.
He chambered his own scream that echoed along the base of the cavern. Celeste transfixed as she watched upon the electrical display. Feeling the rakghoul infection slowly leave the system of both benders.
"The Dark Side at work…" Murr whispered into her head.
Yet, she was so transfixed that she could hardly respond to the old Sith Lord. "Yes, but he fights against it!"
With those parting words Jet let them go. Their bodies slinking to the floor as they slowly opened their eyes. Feeling the cold glare of the wind along the base of their skins as they realized what had happened. Jet reeled onto the floor. His hands outstretched as sweat doused his clothes.
Trying to find a state of stabilization to hold himself too. Yet, it was Celeste Morne that moved forward. Her eyes darting along the young jedi that mingled with darker forces…using the dark side to save his own companions.
She took a knee. Feeling the pressure of the other force sensitives and the young Jedi's other companions slowly moving towards them. "Jet, young Jedi apprentice. You have impressed me with your ability and your loyalty to your friends." Her hand coiled along his shoulder. Trying to help him up, using her force abilities to slowly ease the strain of the dark side that was etching along his psyche. "I do not make friends. Yet, due to the necessity of your mission I shall join you and defeat this New Order of Sith."
Celeste Morne, a woman of The Old Republic. A great Jedi Knight that had made the greatest of sacrifices is now stuck on this world. Now, she will join the Avatar on his journey. Yet will the dark forces that follow them only grow stronger…or shall they learn to hold to the light, because in the end that was all they had in the end.
Author Note: Thank you for reading and I will make this very quick. Listen, I don't like adding in Known star wars characters into this story. I prefer doing either Holocrons or Force Ghost due to the whole setting of the story. Yet, I think Celeste will be a good fit. One of my favorite characters from the Star Wars Legacy Storyline and Old Republic in which she was introduced. She will have a different ending here than in those comics. Let me make this straight she will be the only Star Wars Character alive/or not a vision that comes from Ben's universe. I made this very clear.
Ben is the last of the Jedi and there is no reinforcements or hope that more people from the Star Wars galaxy is going to come and help. He is forever disconnected from his galaxy and will never be able to return. His life, his home, and everything will forever be on this new world in which he is at. Thank you for reading and have a good day, I just wanted to add this little note!