The Shadow
A W A K E N I N G
Objective: BYOO
Tag: OPEN
It had been rather quiet for the most part as some of the prisoners gradually regained consciousness. They muttered something amongst themselves each time, half of them wondered where they were, and the other chidded some unnecessary comments to each other. They even swapped stories of how they were captured, and what they did prior. Mostly boasting of how many of the Foundation rebellion they managed to kill, and some even claimed to have taken down a Jedi. Albeit this was met with immediate doubt from others as they claimed that nobody could take down a Jedi unless they were also a Sith.
Rath had tuned them out however as his eyes absentmindedly gazed upon the smooth wall opposite from him. Where he visually traced the lines between each segment as nothing more than a means of passing time. It was perhaps the first time in a long time that he didn’t need to do anything. To prove anything. Many would find their precarious situation to be daunting or even boast that they survived for however dark humor they could muster up. But not Rath.
Eventually the others had learned to simply leave the man alone as the most they had gained a response from him was a glance. It wasn’t until the door opened with a hiss, a silhouette of a man that favored his left side as the man walked inside. The robes swayed along his footsteps as all had fallen silent. It was indeed a grizzly of a man with graying hair with a trimmed beard. His weathered eyes scanned across the room in search of someone in particular. It wasn’t until his eyes rested upon the least injured man in the room that the Jedi had approached with slow, measured steps.
”You’re not how I imagined you’d look without the armor. You certainly look like my grandson’s age.” The man’s raspy voice sounded hoarse, not bolstering the same level of strength that Rath had encountered from the Jedi Master. Still, he recognized the Jedi the moment he laid eyes upon the man. For he always made a point to remember the faces who gave him a challenge.
”So you lived after all. The Force must favor you.” It wasn’t out of spite or challenge. Instead it felt more like the dark sider was… praising the man? Was it some sort of sick twisted game that he was playing at? Nobody could trust a Sith after all, but never once has Rath announced that he was a Sith. Just that everyone assumed he was.
”Hardly, but we’re not here to talk about me. I’m here to talk about you.” The middle aged man had reached over to retrieve a stool so that he could rest his legs. Despite his vigor, the Jedi hadn’t fully recovered after being impaled by his own lightsaber. He had never come across someone who was capable of performing telekinetic feats not just in power, but the level of control involved behind it. Some of the other prisoners chidded the man, inquiring when they’d be released or even attempting to strike a deal with the grizzly man. However, the Jedi waved them off as Rath silently observed with a sense of calm, yet the duets continued to burn the same level of corruption that anyone tainted by the dark side would possess.
”I’ve done some digging in the archives, and it surprised me to discover that you were a former soldier of the Eternal Empire. How is it that a military trained personnel such as yourself was able to become one of the Elites in the Dark Empire?” The mention of an Elite sparked an instinctual fear, but the lapse didn’t last long as they immediately wondered how someone like that was captured in the first place. The Elites were either killed in battle or managed to escape from what they’ve heard.
”Why are you asking me this?” Rath countered with narrowed eyes of suspicion. Yet without an ounce of hesitation, the Jedi replied.
”To learn of the man who killed my students, and the countless others who you have slain.” Was it a sense of curiosity, or was it the intent for vengeance? Rath couldn’t tell for certain as the Force was of no help once again. It strangely felt like it had forsaken him, or perhaps there was a shift in the entity. As if testing to see which side of the coin that he would be on.
”My life story will not bring back the lost. What’s done is done.” Rath quipped as if that should end it, yet it couldn’t be overlooked that the bodies that Rath had buried. Both Jedi and Sith. It was enough to lay out the foundations for Empires and rebellions to rise up in power, and yet they continued to fall. A vein could be seen pulsing in the older man’s brow.
”Yet you spoke of the Force as if you heeded its will. Why did you choose to spare me?” It was slight, but there was a note of remorse in the man’s heart. Rath didn’t need the Force to hear the survivor’s guilt. To which the dark warrior momentarily closed his eyes as his mind mulled over the options, but more in an attempt to inquire the Force for further clarification. It was always there, yet faint as if he was looking off into the horizon line of the calm oceans.
Consequently, electricity filled Rath’s space as it lanced through his body again, generating a painful shock as his hands balled into tight fists. Leaving behind crescent moons along his palms once the shock had faded.
”The Force does not always paint a clear picture, other than it expressed that you were needed alive. To refuse the Force could spell disaster in the future, be it near or distant.” Or in short it was a matter of cause and effect. The man before Rath was someone needed to confront the ever present Sith that threatened the Galactic Alliance’s border. Of course, he was only but a piece of the puzzle in the grand plan.
To hear Rath speak of the Force, it was strange to hear from someone tainted by the dark side. Even before their battle took place, Rath spoke of the coming events as if he had already witnessed it, yet like so many others before them. The Jedi never listened, and consequently the older man had indirectly gotten his students killed. He too would’ve returned to the Light if it wasn’t for Rath’s decision to alter where the blade would pierce his body. The Jedi opened his mouth to speak again when another entered the prison cell room.
