Monster - Part 1

The training was brutal, relentless and painful. Savage had not been pushed this hard since he was young. Though the memories of that time were vague and blurred. He just remembered the pain. Now of course he was tested in ways he had not been prepared for.

The assignment against the Jedi was simple. Only a small garrison of soldiers and two small Jedi. He had heard they were supposed to be strong… but Savage remained unimpressed. The Clones did nothing to stop him, and the droids only got in the way. He cut them all down and destroyed everyone inside the temple as well.

It was after this that Dooku had taken him on as an apprentice and became his Master. He had shown Savage how to bleed the kyber crystal, from the Jedi he'd killed and create his own Lightsaber. He chose a double bladed design, not sure why he was so drawn to it, but there was something about that type of weapon that felt right in his large hands. He would destroy his enemies with such a weapon. Good.

That was when the real training began. Long meditation for hours on his hate and anger. Running for miles with no supplies into the wilderness to test endurance, endless drills with droids or Dooku himself.

Constant vigilance. He could not be sure when he would be attacked, whether eating or sleeping or meditating, he needed to be ready at all times. His style was vicious, brutal and unforgiving. Savage was a force to be reckoned with, and more often than not, destroyed anything and everything that came near him.

What he didn't kill or annihilate… he was punished for. Whether by task or just being struck with an overwhelming blast of blue lightning. Fear and rage in one blast paralysed him in blinding light and pain there was nothing he could do to fight against it. His blood boiled and his hatred grew.

He'd never felt anything quite so powerful, like he could tear the galaxy apart with his bare hands… but the hole in his gut seemed to grow just as fast. Something in the back of his mind refused to give in completely, and when he finally could take no more and had to rest, he heard it. A whisper of a woman's voice, telling him to hold on, that she would come for him. That she would find him.

Who was she? What did she want? He did not need to be found, he just needed to destroy.

Count Dooku had spoken of his lost brother, Darth Maul. Mentioned how powerful his brother was. Savage wanted that power. He wanted to be able to stand where his brother had and take the power Maul had once wielded. Savage would be a formidable force of destruction that the entire galaxy would fear.

No one would disrespect him. He would annihilate anyone that stood in his way or dared to try and subjugate him again. Never again.

There was so much to learn, though most of the lessons were nothing but pain.

Was this what his brother had been through? A brother he could not remember. A brother that was held in such high regard. That was so honoured above him.

Wait… where had that come from?

Savage's eyes opened and he stared ahead at the window ahead of him, showcasing a lush green and human-friendly landscape. It felt so alien to him. There was no red fog, no dangerous swamps, no large creatures to hunt.

Serenno was peaceful. Boring. He found himself thinking back to Dathomir… but there was so little there. If he tried to push back the fog it only caused more pain! The apprentice decided he couldn't linger on it. He needed to focus on his rage and anger. Through it he would be able to gain the power he desired, and cast off these memories.


Dathomir was eerily quiet and silent. Zaiya too stared contemplatively out at the landscape though her view was vastly different. The cold chill in the air was present even up on the top of the mountain in the sun. She stood with her hands clasped behind her back and staring out into the dusk beyond the red mist.

All her choices, all her paths, all her life had led to this. Savage gone. Feral taken from his home by her own hand. Maul… freed and healed… yet so very hurt in ways she just couldn't heal. The galaxy was at war and she could do little to protect even the few she cared for.

The ritual, the clones, Kamino, Ventress, Zygerria, her bounties and all the way back to that very first mission on Alderaan. She had walked forward telling herself that she had done everything she needed to. That she was right.

But was she? It ate at her. Could she have done more to help Savage? Could she have done more for any of them? Why did she feel so weak?

"You're up here a lot lately." Zaiya turned, seeing Feral standing there towards the path that led back down to the village.

"It's quiet here, I can tap into the Force far more easily when I am on my own," she explained, though her posture sagged slightly as she let out a deep breath.

"Do you really think that Savage can be saved?" There was a pleading tone to his voice that broke her hearts.

"I don't… know for certain," she admitted, "but I will do everything and anything I can to break him from the spell they put on him." There was a long silence before Feral spoke again.

"I suppose… you went to the same lengths for Maul," he reasoned.

"I told you before," she said, turning to face him again, her good eye meeting his. "I would have done the same for any one of you." He gave her a small smile.

"Is there anything we can do but wait? It seems that with all the power you two have gained… sitting in a glorified temple seems like a waste."

Zaiya stared at him for a moment.

"Temple…?"

"Well, that's what the main building is… isn't it?" Feral asked nervously.

"No- I mean yes it is, but… you've given me an idea!" she gasped, her lips breaking into a grin. "Follow me!"

The two raced back down the path, and on passing through the village, she found Maul and Sixy to join them. She knew where she could go. She knew what she could do to help Savage!

Her words to Maul were curt, she was angry with him for the way he had grabbed her last time, but for now she put it aside. There was more to do.

The Nightsister led the other three males out of the main village, avoiding the other Sisters, and toward an old path, no longer utilised and grown over in the swamps outside the mountain. There was another passage that led down, deep into the heart of Dathomir, where she had been only once by accident.

She'd heard a voice there, speaking to her, and it wasn't until the dream the other night that she had even remembered hearing it before. Was the Fanged God really talking to her then? Was it really him she had seen? If that were the case, perhaps she was meant to find this place.

"Lieutenant, where are we going?" Maul asked coldly as he followed her across the marshes.

"It's just… ah! Here!" she gestured to the wall ahead and the group could see a small opening that from one angle just looked like a part of the stone jutting out. Upon drawing closer, they could see the entrance to a tunnel - or more accurately, stairs, leading down and into the dark.

"What is it?" Feral asked.

[My scans detect a winding passage leading far below into the mountain.] Sixy provided.

"You're right… there's a temple down there, an old one," Zaiya began to explain. "To the Winged Goddess and Fanged God."

[An archaic notion for the worship of such deities,] Sixy stated bluntly.

"So I might think too… were it not for the visit I received," she admitted.

"What visit?" Maul asked, sharply.

"I do not know if it was some vision in the Force or a dream connection, but the Fanged God called me to his realm." She heard Maul scoff and she rolled her eyes. Of course. "Disbelieve if you wish, sire, but it was the same effect as when you and I have spoken in the Dreamscape." That silenced him. Feral however was not silent.

"You two can speak in dreams?" he asked.

"We have had a connection in the Force, since we were small… It has allowed us to sometimes see each other or even speak when we enter a meditative state or even dreams." She looked over her shoulder and Feral was staring at her. She also caught the intense look in Maul's eyes as she turned back.

"You've never mentioned it," Feral replied quietly.

"It's never really come up to mention it before now, it's been commonplace for me so I honestly didn't think to mention it." She shrugged, it was a part of her life as breathing, and yet she became aware it was not common for others to feel and so had just kept it to herself. Feral seemed intrigued but it felt a little too personal.

[How do you know this vision was indeed the God you speak of?] Sixy asked.

"Well he certainly looked the part, and I could feel the overwhelming power of the Dark Side… had I not already been, I'd have wanted to drop before him, it was intimidating to say the least," the Nightsister said with a grimace.

"You bowed to him?" Maul asked with a snarl. He sounded angry.

"He's a God, of course I did," she replied back, as though it were obvious.

Suddenly Zaiya was seized by the collar and pinned to the rocky wall. She let out a grunt as her head smacked into the rough surface.

"You do not bow to anyone!" he growled, getting in her face. Zaiya had finally had enough and she shoved him, hard, into the opposite wall.

"And you will not manhandle me like I am some servant!" she snapped back, wisps of green smoke trickled out from behind the eyepatch. "If I am your Lieutenant, you will treat me with respect, Maul, lest I am forced to defend myself." Her eye blazed as she stared at him. Gods, her head hurt. She'd had enough of being grabbed by him when he was in a mood, she should have stopped him long before now.

Maul's lip curled, but his gaze was wary.

"You threaten me?" he asked with a deadly edge to his quiet voice.

"If I were threatening you, I would not be subtle," she hissed. "I am telling you what the consequences of your actions will be. I will tolerate no disrespect from you or anyone else." He regarded her for a long time, but the anger seemed to cool in his glowing yellow eyes. Then he smirked.

"Good. As you should, Lieutenant." His tone sounded clipped and she could not be sure if he was still angry or if he had accepted her demand. With a scowl of her own, she turned and headed further down the stairs, and she thought she could see a faint glow at the bottom.

"You made her bleed!" Fera gasped suddenly. Zaiya turned, seeing the youngest brother glaring between her and Maul. What was he…? Then she felt a slight tickle near the spot of pain on her head. She reached back with a free hand and touched the stinging spot on her head, she only winced slightly and held up her light, seeing the smear of red on her fingers.

"Hm…" she grunted in displeasure and looked back at the others. Maul's mouth had formed a hard line and his jaw seemed to tighten, but his expression was otherwise indecipherable. Feral looked like he was ready to punch his brother in the face.

[Do you require a bacta solution?] Sixy asked, his face as impassive as always.

"No, head wounds always seem worse than they really are. I'm fine." She shot Feral a pointed look and decided they had had entirely too many delays. She needed to make contact with the Fanged God again. If she could accept the blessing to become his priestess, then she could gain more power. If she could manage that then… Well she had a far better chance to save Savage and Talzin could not stand in her way.

The silence was heavy as they made their way down the tunnel, but Zaiya could sense the three had questions. They did not seem to be pleased about any of this.

Finally the tunnel opened up into a chamber; intricate carvings covered the walls, but what might be left of decor, offerings, tapestries or furniture were long gone. It was mostly empty now. Though it seemed rather clean for an abandoned cave. It was also not very dark either, she could not quite tell from where the glow originated, but there was a slight greenish tinge to the room, much the same tone as her eye and magick.

"It looks well-maintained," Maul mused, following her train of thought eerily closely.

"Indeed, perhaps Talzin has kept it in honour of the old ways?" Zaiya mused, though it seemed unlikely, it was she that had turned away from this temple in the first place, so her ma'tri had said. So then who would keep the temple clean of debris and cave-dwelling creatures?

Knowing she would find no answers out here, she continued to the large door, decorated with more Nightsister symbols. The paint had faded but the carvings remained. It opened to a long room, huge pillars carved into figures on either side leading to yet another door.

"I've seen this," Zaiya realised, "or a version of it…"

"What do you mean?" Feral asked, moving to walk beside her now that there was enough room to do so.

"In my vision, I travelled through the temple of the Fanged God… while it was different to this, the layout thus far has been the same." She looked around, "even the carved scenes on the walls are similar though it depicts Nightsisters and not the Sith.

"You saw the Sith in this vision?" Maul asked, standing to her opposite side.

"Like this," she gestured to the carvings on the walls between the pillars. They depicted various moments in Nightsister history and mythology, "but it was moments with the Sith… or what I assume to be the Sith, they looked like cloaked figures with swords or lightsabers. There was the figure of the Fanged God in all the depictions. He represents the Dark Side so it is taught, and because of the ties to Dathomir, he is our sovereign deity." Feral scoffed.

"The Nightsisters swearing fealty to a male God…" he shook his head.

"Perhaps that is why Mother Talzin was exiled to begin with…" Zaiya muttered.

"Exiled?!" Feral asked loudly.

"Yes, it's… not common knowledge, but I discovered in the tomes and confirmed with ma'tri. Before Talzin, our clan was connected with the other clans on Dathomir, the Blue Diver clan, the Singing Mountain clan, the Black Forest clan… there are many, but we are now isolated, divided from our other Sisters. From what I understand it was because of something Talzin did. I don't know what it was though, even ma'tri will not speak of it."

"An outcast clan with so much power?" Maul frowned.

"That might be part of the reason… Talzin does nothing unless it helps her gain power," she said bitterly.

"Why would she allow you to go and find Maul? What power did she gain?" Feral asked and Zaiya grimaced.

"The man she had made a bargain with dared to steal from her. She could not abide such a transgression. She wanted her… property back… and used her keenest tool to do it." She could not help but curl her lip. She felt like a traitor to everything she had once held to. The clan was meant to be wholly loyal to each other.

There was a long silence.

"So then… you never really were one of them," Feral muttered, as though he had come to some realisation.

"No. I suppose not."

Zaiya reached out with her magick, and green flames ignited in braziers above the door, triggering some kind of mechanism, allowing it to open. As she suspected, there were stairs beyond leading up.

"Is this like your vision, still?" Maul asked quietly.

"Yes, up the winding stair to another door… and beyond it was a throne room. I imagine in this case it would be the ritual chamber." She stared up into the dark, watching the green flames run up the walls along carved channels and to a huge chandelier like fixture. Just like the dream.

The small group made their way higher through the temple, and sure enough, at the very top-

"There's the door." Feral muttered, "Just like you said."

"Let's see what lies beyond…"


Notes: Sorry it's late! There is a lot going on for me right now and a lot of family things happening. I got a little distracted, it's also been hard for me to write with court proceedings looming. But I am doing my best!
What do we think? Will this ritual succeed? Will they be able to gain in power? What will they need to do to achieve it? And Zaiya told Maul what for didn't she?

He has been forgetting his respect women juice a little bit. But not to worry, hopefully he has a fresh supply.

As always I appreciate all of you for your time and for reading, I really love hearing from you, a comment or rb or like or anything! It really helps keep me invested and excited so if you have the time, a comment or reply would just be amazing.

Thank you so much and I hope you all have a wonderful week!