Death of a Master...

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus landed at Han Solo starport and had to remind herself how she'd got there. The whole journey was a haze and were it not for her astrodroid she probably wouldn't have made it.

A day ago she was kicking herself for not following through and meeting her family where she was here only a few days ago. Now she was positively beating herself up. The details were sketchy. She'd clearly told a few people she was visiting her parents and it seems the information had found its way into the hands of a bounty hunter. One that decided the price on her head was worth the death of her entire family. Well not all. One sister had survived. One that was born after she left home. That she didn't even know existed. That she would meet for the first time under these circumstances.

So she cancelled meetings and simply jumped on Raven and made the journey in a state of shock. Going through the same rituals she'd done only a few days before, she shut the ship down and confirmed she’d like the ship refuelled before thanking the hangar crew.

And once more she stood dead still. But now, even though she’d looked to keep her emotions locked up tight behind her ‘durasteel wall’ the cold fish was quite literally scared rigid. How do you explain to a young girl that you're sorry for the death of her family. Their family. How do you look her in the eye and not hate yourself?

She tried pulled the Force to her and tried to relax. She failed. Glancing around mindlessly, she walked outside and hailed a cab and asked the driver to take her to the cemetery.

[member="Melori Raaf"]

 

[Darth Timoris]

In her early years she idolised her older sister and cried for weeks following the news of her death.

Proof she was alive and ignorant of the fact that her actions had caused so much pain and suffering had turned that love into bitterness. And that hatred was fuelled by stories of her sister’s rapid rise in the ranks of the Jedi. Worst still she’d heard stories that her eldest sister had come to Corellia but chose not to visit. Not even to apologise for all of the sadness and pain! How she hated that woman!

And then came the day there was talk that her sister was coming to visit. She'd been seen at the starport and had told the hangar crew all about it. And they knew someone who knew someone who told her parents. But she didn’t turn up. No, she stopped at the space port to try to recruit a new Jedi. More important than her family it seemed.

Yet someone else had come that fateful day. A bounty hunter came to call to collect the bounty on her precious sister. Except her sister didn't turn up and her foolish brother decided to play hero. And they all died.

All except Melori.

So she sent word to Ossus of the death of her family. Not Corvus' but hers. And so she awaited her sister’s arrival for the funeral. And Melori was sure of one thing. By the end of the day, another Raaf was going to be buried here - and it wasn't going to be her.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

The taxi arrived at the cemetery. The day was as grey as Corvus felt. There was a light breeze and the threat of rain in the air. She was wearing the Baran Do robes that her good friend Kian had gifted to her and Kana when she visited his planet recently. They were somber enough for the occasion but more ornate than her usual Jedi robes and felt more...appropriate to wear today.

As she scanned the field that was punctuated every few metres with a gravestone, she had to do two sweeps before seeing the girl she supposed was her sister. The girl was alone. There was no funeral party. Seeing a nearby sign she walked across and glanced at it. The information was brief and sadly enlightening. There were no burials due today.

Unsure what this meant, Corvus wandered across the slightly damp grass in the direction of her sister. She practiced a few faces as she went - as she had done on the ship. Should she be pleased to see her sister or sad because of the circumstances. Angry because of the nature of the loss or relieved that one family member survived. The trouble is Corvus felt all of these things in small amounts. She daren't lower her shield and allow her natural Empathy free reign, so she was trying to apply the right 'filter' to the situation. Too little and she returned to being a cold fish. Too much and she became a hypersensitive emotional wreck.

As she approached her sister, she allowed her natural face to come through. It was awash with sadness, her eyes filling with tears at the young blonde girl that stood in front of her - facing the tombstones. And something jarred right there. She didn't know what but something was wrong. But she pushed the thought aside and kept on walking until she was a metre from her sister. It was her sister. The family resemblance was there. She was blonde and had blue eyes, but there was no mistaking they were siblings.

And the girl just stood there, staring down the whole time. Corvus was unsure what to do. She'd not been hugged in what, fifteen years and despite a sudden rash of people grabbing her, she'd always been the recipient, never the hugger. So she just stood there, looking and feeling stupid. A Jedi Master and a failure of a human being.

[member="Melori Raaf"]

 

[Darth Timoris]

Remember when I said I love you?
Well, forget it - I take it back,
I was just a stupid kid back then,
I take back every word that I said.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD4LMQDKFBY


Melori didn’t need to look up. She could see her out of the corner of her eye. She watched her arrive in the taxi and look for her. ‘Yes, that’s right, I’m on my own.’ She saw her check the board. ‘Good girl, no services today. I buried my family yesterday. Today it’s you that I will lay to rest.’

As her sister approached she felt the emotions building up in her. A lifetime of feelings surfaced. The love she’d carried around for ten years. Worse than simply ignored, her sister was actually oblivious to her existence.

Then the bitterness and hatred flared. She remembered what she had to do today and it gave her strength. But then she came closer and it was all Melori could do not to rush and put her arms around her neck. Hug her, kiss her, say it would all be forgiven. And perhaps – just perhaps – if Corvus had made the first move it might have been alright.

But she didn’t.

Corvus stood there, every inch the cold-hearted killer than Melori suspected she was. It just reaffirmed her belief that this Jedi in front of her deserved to die. Just as she’d caused their deaths. Just as she’d failed to act and save the day like Jedi were supposed to do.

Well she’d failed them for the last time.

“You came.” Her voice was cool but shaking. She couldn’t control her nerves. “They loved you, you know. I don’t. I hate you. With every fibre of my body I hate you. And to avenge them, I'm going to kill you.”

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

I'd go hungry; I'd go black and blue,
And I'd go crawling down the avenue.
No, there's nothing that I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0put0_a--Ng


Corvus was poleaxed. She didn't know exactly what she expected - but it wasn't that. She'd never met her youngest sister but that didn't matter. Since she'd been contacted by her, she'd checked the birth records and whatever information she could from the 'net. She'd never met her - but she loved her. This was her little sister. Her sister. The only connection to their dead parents and siblings.

For the first time since Master Karr had taught her Telepathy, Corvus lowered her defences. The durasteel wall was lowered and emotions were allowed in and out unhindered. The initial force knocked her back a step. Every person and creature in a hundred metre radios seemed to be trying to share its feelings with her. Hunger, pain, love - she felt them all.

But the overriding feeling was hate and it came from her sister. She could almost taste it on her tongue, a bitter sensation that almost made her gag due to its intensity. And the valve worked both ways. Corvus own bottled up emotions were unleashed for her to feel properly for the first time in a long time. Guilt was a strong feeling but even that was eclipsed by fear but primarily love. And the three fought each other for her attention but love kept pushing its way to the surface.

So she stood there, tears flowing freely and she stepped forward, arms outstretched. All she wanted to do was cuddle her little sister. To absorb the pain and hatred and make it all go away. She simply wanted to love and be loved in return.

[member="Melori Raaf"]

 

[Darth Timoris]

Melori was in two minds. Part of her still wanted to rush forward and hug her sister. The weak part, she told herself. The old Melori. That little girl who idolised this peacock she saw before her, with her crocodile tears and fancy new robes. They weren’t even Jedi robes but were some fancy effort to dress up as if this were some garden party.

No – the new Melori wouldn’t fall for any of her sister’s efforts to manipulate her – and she’d better not try any mind tricks.

Her voice still shaking, she brushed Corvus’ arms away. “Keep away from me.” She gestured at the stones. “Here they lie. No different to anyone else in this cemetery to you, eh? Strangers each and every last one. Just like me. You can pretend we’re sisters but we’re not. We share…shared the same parents but that’s where it ends. Being a sister is more than just having similar blood or cheekbones or something. It’s about being a part of a family – and you were never part of mine. Because these people,” she waved her hand at the stones again, “Are not your family.”

She walked up and down now, parallel to the line of grave-stones. “But I have relented in one aspect. I agreed that you shall be buried along with them. Call me sentimental…” The shakiness in her voice was gone now. It was pure durasteel with a crystal edge. “But consider it my parting gift. You see…” she indicated the head-stones again. “The whole family is buried here and this one…” she walked forward to the one on the left of the group and bending down, hugged it, “Is yours. I’ve even got them to engrave it. Look, it’s got today’s date on it too.” A smile played across her lips. She was enjoying this – very much.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

“Keep away from me.”

Corvus froze. She knew her sister was full of hatred but this was more than she expected. She hoped the anger fuelled animosity would dissipate and Melori’s true feelings would come through but instead they were getting progressively worse. The reality hit home. What if the emotions currently being displayed were her true feelings?

“Here they lie. No different to anyone else in this cemetery to you, eh? Strangers each and every last one.”

And the words stung. They were true. They may have been said simply to hurt but the fact of the matter was they were entirely correct. Corvus was a Jedi, first, foremost and only. Kana had advised her not to come. She didn’t demand it, she didn’t wave her hands around – but her softly spoken counsel and immeasurable silences when the subject was raised were enough. She should have listened. If she had, her parents would still be alive. Her brothers and sisters wouldn’t be lying here, mere feet away.

“You can pretend we’re sisters but we’re not... Because these people are not your family.”

Every word her sister spat at her was like a punch in the gut. If she could have swapped places with any of her siblings she would do so in a heartbeat.

“I agreed that you shall be buried along with them…I’ve even got them to engrave it. Look, it’s got today’s date on it too.”

Anguish and dismay gave way to confusion in Corvus’ mind. The words made perfect sense but at the same time they made no sense.

“I don’t…understand. What are you saying? Is this something symbolic? Do you mean that I’m dead to you? Is that what you’re saying?” As awful as the words were to say, they were better than the alternative that Corvus feared she would hear from her sister’s lips.

[member="Melori Raaf"]

 

[Darth Timoris]

"Are you stupid?" Memoir spat the words out at her sister. Then she walked over to her and stood nose to nose with her sibling. "ARE YOU STUPID?" She was shouting now, flecks of spit coating Corvus' face.

"KARK OFF YOU KARKING, KARKING, PIECE OF POODOO. JEDI SCUM, KARK OFF NOW AND I'LL LET YOU LIVE. KARK OFF, KARK OFF."

She started beating Corvus on the chest, and the shoulders. Then her arms were flailing and then she started to kick too. "KARK OFF YOU queen. I HATE YOU"

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

How long will I love you?
As long as stars are above you
And longer, if I can.
How long will I need you?
As long as the seasons need to
Follow their plan.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FlgVN03fNM


Corvus stood there and took it. She took the punches and the kicks and just stood there. The tears continued to flow and the pain in her heart grew unbearable. Finally she knew love. At the very point it was denied her she understood the majesty and the overwhelming ache of the emotion.

She removed her robe and tried to put it around Melori's shoulders, but her sister shrugged it off and it fell to the ground.

New to all of this, Corvus simply didn't know what to do. All she had were words. "I love you..."

[member="Melori Raaf"]

 

[Darth Timoris]

Melori stomped on the robe that was offered. How dare she patronise her by offering her that of all things?

And then she saw it. It was perfect. What better way to end the life of this vile piece of scum that called herself a Jedi. And she grabbed the saber from Corvus' belt and waved it under her nose. "I guess you're not as brave now are you, scum? One press of this button and there'll be a hole in your face big enough to spoil those pretty looks and end your pitiful life."

And she toyed with the activation switch but kept the saber pointed at Corvus' left eye. "I don't care how good a Jedi you think you are, even you couldn't save yourself in time, eh?"

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus stood perfectly still. Not through fear. Or at least not the fear Melori was expecting. "Melori...I am sorry. Believe me, and you must believe me, I want you, I need you to put that down. I'm not afraid to die. I'll join the Force one day and this is as good as any other. But I fear for you. If you kill me you'll have to live with this dark stain for the rest of your life."

Her voice was calm and clear, no hint of emotion. "But believe me when I say these words. Firstly that I am sorry. So sorry. And I love you more than you'll ever know. Today I have known love for the first time and even if I die now, I shall die happy for that. But the important thing is that I need to tell you that I'm afraid you won't kill me - and that scares me more than you'll ever know."

No sooner had Corvus finished speaking than she saw and heard at point blank range her sister's finger flick the activation switch, the hilt less than a centimetre from Corvus' left eye socket.

[member="Melori Raaf"]

 

[Darth Timoris]

Melori was relishing this. It was going even better than she’d planned – not that she’d necessarily done a lot of preparation. She’d buried her family before Corvus got here and she arranged for the headstone but the rest she was making up as she went along.

Part of her was disappointed that her sister wasn’t resisting at all. She actually seemed a really vulnerable and sad figure standing there. But sympathy was weakness and so she pushed it out of her mind. She was here to make her sister pay.

So she listened as her sister begged for mercy. Except, her words weren’t typical of someone that was desperate to live.

Of course she wanted her to put the saber down. She was about to skewer her brain with it. And that not afraid to die stuff? Bravado and bluff. She was a Jedi after all, they loved their fancy ways and their moral high ground. Well Jedi blood was as red as anyone else’s and Melori was about to prove it.

Sorry? She was sorry was she. ”YOU’RE FIFTEEN YEARS TOO LATE WITH YOUR APOLOGY.” And what did she know of love? This cold-fish in front of her knew nothing of the word, and Melori suspected the Jedi knew it. But happy to die knowing she’d loved Melori? A tingle went down her spine. Could she back down now? She wanted desperately to embrace her sister, to return that love. She glanced at the grave-stones in front of her. She pushed her childish thoughts aside. She cannot be weak now. She remembered her mother’s face when the bounty hunter gunned down her brothers and sister. The pain for their loss. And she was looking at the true culprit right now.

It was as if something snapped. The tension was gone and there was now no turning back. And then more Jedi lies. Afraid I can’t kill her? Does she think I’m so weak?

And without another thought, her thumb flicked the activation switch, the hilt a mere centimetre from her sister’s left eye.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

There was no snap-hiss. No hum as the blade kicked into life. It was just as Corvus feared. She was warned by a ghost of all things about how her choice of crystal might be her undoing one day. It seemed an odd things for anyone to say. Perhaps they had foreseen this day, and perhaps she was just clutching at straws.

But she took the opportunity to speak again to her sister. ”Stop now. I can help you. It’s never too late.” She was a Jedi, she believed in redemption but never had she ever so wanted to make it happen nor – at the back of her mind – suspect it was too late. No – she was a Jedi. She had to plan to succeed. But being a Jedi is what had gotten her into this mess.

She put her hands on Melori’s shoulders. ”I know it’s fifteen years too late, but trust me. I can help.”

[member="Melori Raaf"]

 

[Darth Timoris]

Melori checked the saber. It was activated all right but wouldn’t operate. She clicked the switch on and off a couple of times in frustration and then threw it away. Aware her sister was talking to her, she chose not to listen. And then the Jedi touched her!

She grabbed the shoto from Corvus’ belt and waved that at her sister. ”They can’t both be faulty,” she said and again flicked the switch but to no avail. Frustration boiled inside her and so she lashed out, clubbing her sister on the side of the head with the hilt of the shoto. There was a crack of bone above her eye socket and the Jedi went down.

Melori threw in a few well-aimed kicks at her prone sister’s ribs for good measure, the sound of bone breaking satisfying. Just like it was with the bounty hunter…this felt good.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus was overwhelmed by the hatred emanating from her sister and closed her emotions down erecting that durasteel wall in her brain without delay. She was vaguely aware of her shoto being grabbed but knew it would do her younger sibling no good.

But she was so distracted, she didn’t listen to the Force when it warned her of the impending blow. In truth, she probably did listen, but chose to ignore it. Whatever punishment she received, she deserved. Melori was right in that regard.

So as consciousness slipped away, she had but one thought. ’I’m sorry and I will always love you.’

[member="Melori Raaf"]

 

[Darth Timoris]

As Melori finished kicking she felt a voice in her head. It was gentle and kind and…AND WEAK. A trick by the Jedi who knew nothing else. Corvus can be as sorry as she likes. ’I will never, ever love her.’

She grabbed the robe that was on the floor and pulled it on, raising the hood. Corvus was right, at a casual glance the family resemblance was enough.

She hailed a cab as soon as she could and headed for the space-port. The Jedi ship was easy to spot. She simply walked right in and was immediately met by some protocol droid. ”Your Master needs you to run an errand. Go to the nearest shop and buy some flowers. White lillies, and plenty of them.” The droid simply obeyed. How dumb were they?

She secured the ship and did a quick search. Ryshcate? Her sister seemed to love some things Corellian. Oh, and Corellian finest? She grabbed two bottles and headed for the cockpit. Seeing the astrodroid there she sat down and swung her feet up onto the console. ”Get us out of here and plot a course. No, not Ossus. Prakith. If I’m going to do this, might as well do it properly.”

She uncorked one of the bottles and took a deep swig. Turning up in her sister’s ship might even get her some sort of reward. She smiled. Life was good…

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus awoke and scrambled around, locating her saber and blood splattered shoto. She simply clipped then to her belt and propped herself up against a gravestone. Her gravestone it seemed. Looking around, she realised her robe had been taken.

She felt the blood congealed on her head and a tentative touch suggested there was broken bone. Her ribs too felt bad. Two maybe three cracked?

And she sensed with the Force. Melori was gone. Not just from here but this planet. And logic said there was only one way that could have happened. So she fumbled gingerly for her communicator and sat looking at it for a good hour. Finally she plucked up the courage to use it.

She punched in the code for [member="Kana Truden"]

”Hi, I need a few favours. I think I’ll need a lift. And some medical supplies and…a shoulder to cry on. It’s…it’s complicated. Let’s just say I should have listened and…you know what? It seems I can’t be a person and a Jedi.” Her voice was a mixture of desperation and resignation.




Why don't you ask them what they expect from you?
Why don't you tell them what you're gonna do?
You get so lonely, maybe it's better that way,
It's not you only, 'cause you got something to say.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weQ4oNk7Pqc

[member="Melori Raaf"]

 

[Kana Truden]

A ship, medical supplies and a shoulder to cry on. It wasn’t the most typical of requests, especially not for [member="Corvus Raaf"]. It sounded horrible enough at medical supplies but to hear someone claim it’s hard to be a person as well as a jedi felt worse. The device blooped back and Kana sent her message.

“Sure, yeah. I’m coming.”

A groggy Kana got out of bed to get dressed. Why would she be called in the middle of the night to go to Corellia of all places? It was raining that night on Ossus as Kana slowly made way across the soaked courtyards. Puddle for puddle splashed under her boot and before long she found herself aboard a shuttle that wasn’t Raven. Just this once she let the astromech do it all. Kana was in no state to fly and proceeded to collapse onto the bunks that this shuttle in particular offered.

The words echoed in her mind. A lift, medical supplies, shoulder to cry on. In a shocked state Kana promptly rose out of her bunk and ran for the cockpit. Corvus had grabbed Raven earlier that previous day. If she needed a trip...

“Oh no.”

Corellia flashed up in front of the cockpit’s exterior.

‘Corvus, the droid is taking forever with this thing. Just hold on.’

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus sat there. Pleased with the solitude to be honest. She received word back from Kana that she was coming and so she closed her eyes and meditated. She considered doing some self-healing but decided instead to just connect to the Force.

She'd been teaching herself Healing Meditation. Master Ki-Ad-Mundi had much to say on the topic from the holocrons she'd scanned. So she allowed the Force to naturally aid the healing process without necessarily proactively seeking it. If nothing else it helped numb the physical pain. But it was the mental pain she could not contend with.

Her sister was beyond redemption. In her meditative state she pushed that thought aside. A Jedi always plans to succeed first. But where has being a. Jedi got you so far, she asked herself. Here, leaning against your own gravestone and hated by the one person you know in your heart you could never hurt. They'll kill you in a heart-beat. They've already tried - twice.

And for the first time ever, she contemplated not returning to Ossus. A handful of years ago she sat not so far from here and contemplated a death. It was the death of her Master. And it rocked her belief system. She recovered, barely. But even Master Yoda's words seemed idiotic now. How could she train herself to let go of her sister? Was this the beginning of a journey to the Dark-side. She metaphorically shook her head. She'd walk away from the Order before she'd do that.

Was that the answer? To renounce her title and become a hermit, like Yoda and Obi-Wan before her? Once more she dismissed these thoughts. That was the voice of a weak Jedi and could only lead on one direction.

Where was Kana? She needed her friend now more than any other time. And her communicator bleeped and told her that Kana was close. She opened her eyes. Well, she opened one eye. The other, despite the help of the Force, was swollen, bloody and closed up. She laughed. She didn't know why, but she laughed. The sound echoed around the empty graveyard, slowly dissipating.

And she closed her eyes again, this time to sleep rather than meditate.

[member="Kana Truden"]

 

[Kana Truden]

She had only slept for a few hours and now she was touching down on Corellia, a planet she had never been at. At least not what she could remember in a insomnia-like state. To wake up to that message twice was not something she had wanted to experience in a long while. The loading ramp of the shuttle opened and Kana burst out into a sprint for the transportation depot. She needed a speeder and she needed it now.

Vehicle for vehicle passed her by. The terrifying and nagging gut feeling that something was wrong grew more unbearable for every passing moment. It had been a while, was Corvus dead? The fact that she was in a cemetery was not lost on her. A sister with a taste for irony, how… Ironic.

The speeder stopped but Kana didn’t. She quickly entered the graveyard and to her horror nobody seemed to be around. Row for row Kana wandered between left and right as she tried to catch glimpse of [member="Corvus Raaf"] or anybody who knew where she was.

Nobody was around.

Eventually she caught sight of something. A black dot in the distance by a stone. Closer inspection said it was Corvus. Panic erupted and the quiet word of ‘No’ began to slowly but steadily spew out of her mouth as her walk turned into a sprint.

Kana knelt down by her friend. The naysaying went on and she proceeded to open Corvus’ eyelids before promptly slapping her friend’s face to wake her up. Eyes jittering she dug her hands down underneath her friend’s back in order to get her up and into a seated position. Was Kana too late? The blood on her friend’s head was smeared away as her hand reached out to cover the wound.

“Soldering. It’s still like soldering.”

Kana proceeded to heal the small gash with the force, blissfully unaware about the ribcage.