Echoes

[Selenial]

Hi Guys!

 

This is my first fanfiction, I wrote the first couple of chapters to one a while ago but disliked how it turned out. This is my attempt at re-writing it!

 

The story is set shortly after "Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords" and focuses on the companions of the Jedi Exile, the "Lost Jedi".

 

Note: Each chapter could be told from the point of view of any character in the story, and any non-basic languages are indicated with Italics.

 

I hope you enjoy it!

[Selenial]

Prolouge - Mira

 

Silence wasn’t something Mira was used to, but when wandering the halls of the Jedi Temple, it was hard to escape. For years this monument, this fortress that stood tall over all of Coruscant was left desolate. Some would say it still was. From looking at it, you wouldn’t have any idea anyone had ever left. There had been no infestations to rid, no squatters, no looters, nothing. Mira sometimes wondered if that wasn’t a good thing, at least the Temple would have had some semblance of life. Now it was nothing but sterile.

 

Trying to shrug off the feeling of emptiness, she walked down the open corridors passed the dorms until she reached the spiral stairs that climbed the east wing. She descended slowly, still getting used to the feeling of a robe billowing between her legs. After a time she’d made her way to the back entrance. Looking outwards she was greeted with a panoramic view of the city, stretching out for hundreds of miles in front of her. It reminded her of times long gone, of Nar Shaddaa, and served as a stark contrast to the temple at her back. The Coruscanti sun was slowly descending through the sky, a reminder that her time was running out.

 

She continued her path through the temple, determined to finish her exploration. She quietly made her way passed the Meditation Chapel, careful not to disturb anyone who was housed within. In recent weeks, each member of the new Jedi Order had taken to different parts of the Temple. Mical and Visas were fond of the tranquility afforded in the Chapel, and did not like to be disturbed. It didn’t worry Mira, the last thing she ever wanted was to be alone with either of those two, some things she had to face on her own.

 

The Temple itself was grand, and walking through it could take someone hours, luckily the Room of a Thousand Fountains wasn’t far from the Chapel. Within minutes Mira had arrived. Out in front of her stretched stone as far as the eye could see. So large in fact, Mira almost thought to have found herself outside once more. The grey ceiling above could easily be confused for the polluted clouds of the city, and the natural rock formations below didn’t seem to belong inside a construct such as this. She knew, however, where she was. She’d heard from the Exile about the luscious flora and fauna a Jedi could expect to find here, and she’d heard how it all had died with the rest of the Order. Chasms filled the stone where small lakes once stood, and echoes of her very footsteps replaced the birdsong and the sounds of waterfalls.

 

She walked along the stone, over the cracks in the rock where trees once stood, until she reached the fountains. Huge marble constructs rose from the ground, beautifully carved and hauntingly silent. The waters had run still years ago, in reverence to the fallen Jedi. Something inside her told her to keep moving however, and she had learned to trust her new Jedi instincts. Taking one last look at the fountains, she continued on her way, in the end finding herself so far from them that they appeared as small specks of dust on the horizon. The ceilings above had long since faded from architecture into caves. The realisation dawned on her that she was making her way through the centre of the mountain that sat as the foundation of the Temple.

 

The caves began to grow darker until at last Mira was relying more on the Force to guide her than her sight. Pondering the passages with nothing but her thoughts to accompany her, time lost all meaning. What seemed like an eternity later her eyes began to re-attune, after remaining dormant. There was a small glow emanating from a nearby cave, and every bone in her body was drawn to it. She crept through the caverns, ever following the light. Moments later she found herself in what could only be described as an oasis. She scoured the room. A small stream was pouring through the rocks, culminating in a tiny reservoir at the base of a ledge. In the center of the room was a Ch’hala tree, barely two years old. Small vines Mira couldn’t name were climbing the walls, and a small bank of reeds had appeared around the pond. Everything here seemed so new. It was almost as if Meetra breathing life back into the Order, giving it a heart, had brought life back to the Temple as well. An inner drive sparked inside Mira. She hoped that once their mission was complete and the Order rebuilt, she could see these gardens in the splendour and magnificence they once enjoyed. Unfortunately they had a long way to go.

 

She made her way down to the water’s edge where she noticed once more the ethereal light that had drawn her to this cave in the first place. She slowly peered down into the water, only to be greeted with an image of herself, her fiery red hair, alabaster skin… and that scar.

 

She tried not to think about it, filling her mind with anything else, but the cave seemed to be drowning her in her own memories. Until she was no longer in the cave.

 

She was on Malachor V.

 

Obsidian daggers, hundreds of meters high rose above her. She knew exactly where she was, minutes earlier she had awoken from the crash that had left her and her friends stranded on this desolate world. She couldn’t just stay where she’d found herself. She knew enough about this world to know what was coming. Or she thought she did.

 

She wandered through the wastes, eventually creeping passed the largest Storm Beast she had ever seen. But she didn’t need her eyes to know what was ahead, she could feel the Dark Side growing stronger with every step she took. It penetrated her, this planet, attacking from every direction. She could feel it feeding on her, leeching her life until nothing remained. She didn’t think the darkness could grow any more intense, but every step further crushed her willpower all the more. The only thing that kept her going was the thought that what she could do, would matter. That she could aid the woman who had given her everything, the woman she would follow to the edge of the galaxy and beyond.

 

The Darkness ahead was nothing compared to what was following her however. She turned around, but she knew that it could only be one thing.

 

“Hanharr?” She gasped. “You’ve got to be kidding me…”

 

She was frozen. Of everything she knew she may face on this world, nothing could have prepared her for this. Hanharr had followed her for years, ever since she’d saved his life. He was a seething beast of unkept rage, and almost all of it was directed at her. He’d restrained himself from killing her on Nar Shaddaa, he had no choice. But here?

 

Here he strode towards her leisurely, as if his entire life had been leading up to this moment. And she was powerless to stop him. She couldn’t move. Silent, like the embodiment of death, he reached out and placed a single hand around her neck. His arm barely strained as he pulled her into the air. His eyes didn’t blink as he watched the air slowly seep from her lungs, the color drain from her face.

 

It seemed like an eternity before he spoke.

 

“The grey-maned female brought me here to hunt. To hunt you. You have always been prey, Mira. Weak, scared, always running. Always hesitant to kill. Here on this graveyard planet, you have nowhere left to run. The eyes of Nar Shaddaa do not look here, and what happens here shall be only between you and I. Run, prey, or fight me here. I can feel the rage of this planet pouring through me. Yet it is nothing compared to the hate I have for you.”

 

On the last word, he lifted his arm, and slammed Mira into the ground with the force of a thousand men. Instead of pressing the advantage however, he stepped back, unsheathing his War Sword. This was more than a target the Exchange had sent him after. He wanted to enjoy this.

 

She was going to make sure he didn’t.

 

Hastily unclipping her twin blades from her belt, she bolted into action. She couldn’t hope to match Hanharr’s strength or stamina, but he wasn’t fast, and he wasn’t agile. Calling on everything she could remember of the Ataru form, she somersaulted over the beast’s head, landing at his rear. Instinctually he spun around, swinging wildly as he did. Millimeters separated Mira’s chin from his blade as she bent over backwards to avoid it. He was not a difficult opponent to predict, and she’d seen his primal maneuver coming from a mile away. She reached out with her left arm, pouring all her energy into striking his blade clean out of his hands. Unfortunately his strength was too great, and his arm simply flailed a little further than normal.

 

Seizing what little advantage that gave her, she launched into the air, kicking him clean in the chest and sending him staggering back. She grabbed a nearby rock with the Force and sent it hurtling towards him, striking him in the stomach but barely slowing his advance. He slammed the full force of his body into an overhead strike, which Mira foolishly tried to meet head on. The impact of the attack slammed her once more into the black dirt of this horrible planet. She struggled to rise as the anomalous gravity pulled her into the abyss, but she was given little choice. Barely avoiding his next few strikes, she scrambled to her feet, using a desperate telekinetic push to keep him from splitting her in two.

 

The two stood facing one another. Hanharr tried to hide the pain Mira had inflicted upon him, standing tall. She made no such attempts however. She slouched, she cried, she held her chest and gasped for air. With every moment he looked at her, he grew both more disgusted and more confident. That was exactly what she wanted.

 

He charged one final charge towards her, sword high in the air. As he came closer, she propelled herself towards him with the Force, cutting through the cold air like a streak of Lightning. He barely had time to acknowledge she’d moved before she’d buried a lightsaber deep into his stomach. He barely had time to flinch as her second blade arced across his back.

 

For a moment he continued, and a terrible feeling arose in the back of her mind that perhaps here, perhaps on Malachor, he could not be killed. That his rage would empower him until the end of her days. But that feeling proved false, and he fell to his knees.

 

“Kill me,” he begged, “and the life debt will be settled. I cannot be in your debt twice, it will only be a second death to me. Whether you spare me or kill me, it is only death.”

 

“There’s no need for this,” she whimpered, her voice barely escaping her lungs. “I release you. You owe me nothing”

 

“Words cannot break the shackles on my wrist. Words cannot end the hatred I have for you. My hatred for you would drown the raging storms of this planet. It burns hotter than the hatred in the heart of the grey-maned woman…. and greater than her feelings for your Exile. Your mercy is death to me, end this.”

 

“I will not kill you. Not in cold blood.” And with that she turned, making her way slowly towards the core of the planet. Towards the end. But Hanharr was not finished with her.

 

“You are weak! A child of the Hutt’s moon, forever frightened, forever fearing the dark. You will always be prey, Mira. If you do not kill me now, I shall hunt you through the paths of your mind until you die.”

 

There are few sounds in the galaxy as unmistakable as blaster fire, and Mira heard the shots before she felt them. Pain engulfed her left side as the kinetic force threw her into a nearby cliff face. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him approaching, bowcaster in his arms. Another shot turned the pain from unbearable to unimaginable. She saw his finger clench around the trigger once more, and she screamed. She screamed a scream that still echoed around her mind. She screamed a scream that still resonate in her dreams, her nightmares. With that scream she opened herself up to all her darkness, all the hatred she had felt for Hanharr as he hunted her across worlds. All the hatred she felt for Kreia, for the Exchange, for everyone who’d ever wronged her, released.

 

Her vision was a blur, she never saw what happened to Hanharr, but she heard it. She heard his bones snap as he collided with a nearby rock face. She heard the rocks shatter under the weight of her attack, and she heard his screams as the stone buried him alive.

 

And after that? Darkness.

 

“Mira?”

 

She snapped back to reality, finding herself in the cave once more. She was greeted with her own face, but she looked shattered, pale, and she was sweating profusely. She dipped her hands into the water, cupping some up and throwing it over her face in an attempt to wake herself up. This time she noticed something though, a small crystal in the bottom of the pool, glowing with iridescent light. She hastily picked it up and put it in her pocket, turning to face the voice that had woken her from her nightmares. The voice of a friend.

 

“How did you get here?” She queried, wondering if she’d been followed.

 

“I’ll explain on the way,” Atton replied, grinning from ear to ear, “you’re late as it is.”

 

Edited July 22, 2015 by Selenial

[cs_zoltan]

Good stuff. I always wondered what happened to them after the game

 

PS: Although it wasn't a major issue you could improve like 1% on your word repetition

 

He charged one final charge towards her, sword high in the air. As he came closer, she propelled herself towards him with the Force, cutting through the cold air like a streak of Lightning. He barely had time to acknowledge she’d moved before she’d buried a lightsaber deep into his stomach. He barely had time to flinch as her second blade arced across his back.

 

[Beniboybling]

Ooh nice, I look forward to more.

[Lunafox]

I'm interested to see what will happen next Good stuff.

 

There is one thing you might wish to change, in this line:

 

"She descended slowly, still getting used to the feeling of a robe bellowing between her legs."

 

I think you meant 'billowing', which would be like flapping in the breeze...if you leave it as 'bellowing' it's basically screaming between her legs.

[Selenial]

Good stuff. I always wondered what happened to them after the game

 

PS: Although it wasn't a major issue you could improve like 1% on your word repetition

 

 

 

One of those was on purpose, the other wasn't...

 

EDIT: Actually both of those were on purpose

 

Appreciate the feedback, that's actually something I had a lot of trouble with while writing this. Got rid of most of them, that appears to have slipped through the cracks

 

I'm interested to see what will happen next Good stuff.

 

There is one thing you might wish to change, in this line:

 

"She descended slowly, still getting used to the feeling of a robe bellowing between her legs."

 

I think you meant 'billowing', which would be like flapping in the breeze...if you leave it as 'bellowing' it's basically screaming between her legs.

 

Pfft, dramatic effect yo! No but seriously, corrected Glad you liked it though!

Edited July 22, 2015 by Selenial