Hey guys! I'M ALIVE! XD I know its been awhile….but hey! New fanfic! Enjoy!
I DON'T own anything, Star Wars or Skyrim (I wish, XD )
STAR WARS The Spirit of NirnPrologueTython, the supposed birthplace of the Jedi; a Deep Core world, oft not visited, it was the perfect planet to hide ancient secrets of the Force. Darth Sebris and her apprentice, Darth Irritas, looked down on the lush forest from their impromptu landing pad atop a high plateau. Irritas looked out at the sea of unbroken green with open amazement. Sebris felt similar wonder, not due to the raw Force energy pulsing through the entire planet, though that did astound her, but at the effect it had on the wildlife. The trees had grown tall and lush, reaching at least ten kilometers straight into the sky, like pillars in a massive, green cathedral. The beasts of the world had adapted to take full advantage of their environment, most sneaking and skulking in the shadows.
"We must be cautious, Irritas," she said, her voice raised slightly over the billowing breeze. "This forest might very well consume us before we even see our goal."
"Aye, Master." His deep voice resonated through the breeze, like an enormous drum.
Of course, she had not told him of what had brought them here. He needn't know until he beheld it with his own eyes. She remembered when she had found the Sith Holocron that had led them here, how she had spent days locked in her chambers, absorbing all that the gatekeeper had to say. The Holocron had been damaged, so it was impossible to know who had created it; yet, it had still provided a plethora of knowledge. Before the device had failed, the gatekeeper mentioned a secret world that held amazing power, untouched by any sentient being for millions of years.
"You will find the path," it had said, "within an ancient temple, deep in the forests of Tython." Then, a map had appeared, listing vague coordinates, before the Holocron finally grew dim, then shattered quietly.
A gust of wind brought her back to the present, and she shook her head to frustrated at herself for drifting. There was work to be done now, and with little time to waste. Without a word, she leapt from the edge of the plateau, knowing her apprentice would not be far behind, landing on a lower ledge. In this fashion, the two Sith Lords made their way down the cliff face, down to the forest below.
As soon as they descended past the thick forest canopy, the world around them grew dark and misty. The forest floor was almost completely bare due to the lack of sunlight. Sebris pulled a glow rod from her pack, as did Irritas, and together, lightsabers drawn but not ignited, they made their way through the dark forest cathedral. Since Irritas had no clue as to where they were going, he wordlessly followed his Master.
For hours, they walked, careful to elude notice from the forest's predators. Not that they couldn't handle themselves, they were both highly skilled in both combat and the Force. On the other hand, they were not eager to provoke the unfamiliar beasts of the unfamiliar world. Of course, inevitably, the creatures noticed the unfamiliar trespassers in their territory.
The attack came swiftly, three hulking quadrupeds launching themselves silently from the shadows, falling upon the two Sith with calculated ferocity. The only thing that saved the two from evisceration was the Force, warning them to the impending attack a split second before it was too late. Sebris flung herself forward, while Irritas leapt back. Their lightsabers ignited simultaneously, bathing the creatures in crimson light. They we feline in form, but scales covered their hides and their six limbs, two of which protruded from their backs, like spindly arms. Their bifurcated tails lashed back and forth, frustrated and confused as to how their prey had escaped.
Sebris turned to see the largest of the pack, most likely the leader, was in mid-pounce, heading toward her. She lifted her arm, intending to grip the predator with the Force and crush the life from it. The beast kept coming, and, stunned by the blatant resistance of the creature to the Force, she fell beneath the beast. Two hundred pounds of scales and meat and sinew crashed into her, knocking the breath from her lungs. Fortunately for her, the beast had forgotten about her lightsaber, which she plunged deep into the side of the creature. The limbs went limp, and, with some difficulty, she rolled the creature off her and sat up, catching her breath and looking around for Irritas. She saw him, panting hard over the corpses of the other two predators. She extinguished her lightsaber, as he did his, and stood.
Sebris looked him up and down, seeing no major injuries, and then retrieved her glow rod from where it had fallen. Without a word, they continued their trek through the darkness. Hours passed with no attacks.
Suddenly, in a hushed voice, Irritas asked, "Master, do you believe that all the creatures of this forest are immune to the Force?"
"Possibly," she replied. "We should be prepared for anything. Though I believe we are approaching our goal."
"What makes you say that, Master?"
Sebris didn't answer. She didn't have to. In the distance, through the mist, a low, pure white, stone temple stood, solemn and ghostly, in defiance of the forest around it. The temple looked like a jagged thorn, jutting out of the forest floor as if a great monster's claw was trying to breach the surface. And the Force poured from it, like a great river. Sebris heard Irritas gasp as he felt the waves of pure power, yet she paid him no mind as they approached the monolith. There was no visible entrance, so Sebris reached out with the Force, searching for a hidden opening, yet there was none.
"Master," said her apprentice, holding a hand against the surface of the temple. She moved toward him, and he held his up glow rod. As he moved it, Sebris noticed regular shadows. Upon closer inspection, they proved to be claw marks. However, these marks seemed too precise, too….intentional, to be the mere marking of territory. Her hand brushed over the engravings, examining them closely.
"Forgive me, Master," murmured Irritas, "but might the secret to opening the temple have been in the Holocron?"
Sebris nodded, thinking back to the time she had spent alone with the faulty Holocron. Of course, she had copied what she had learned onto sheet after sheet of flimsiplast, but she hadn't thought she would need them. Now Sebris could see how foolish that notion was. Berating herself, she cast her memory back to her study and dutiful notation of the gatekeeper's lessons. Nothing she could remember offered any assistance in their current situation. She growled in frustration as, unbeknownst to her or Irritas, who was busy meditating while she worked on their obstacle, the etchings started to emit a faint glow, and a slight hissing could be heard.
Sebris stopped, the hissing drawing her attention away from her own frustration. She turned back to the white monolith, her gaze falling upon the glowing claw marks. Suddenly, she couldn't look away. The Force was calling out to her, beckoning her to approach the temple. Slowly, as if of their own volition, her legs began to carry her closer to the etchings. Sebris tried to pull away, but the Force whispered to not resist. A word floated to the surface of her mind, but it was unlike any word from any language she had ever heard. A sensation of opening washed over her, a strange energy coursing through her body. Her lips began to form the word, ready to let the sensation envelope her….
She was on her back, the wind knocked out of her, the sensation, the energy were gone. Livid, she looked up at her apprentice, on his knees next to her, dirt and blood on his thickly muscled arms from scraping the hard earth. Sebris rose to her feet, her frustration burning into anger as she gathered the power of the dark side, ready to wipe Irritas from existence should he give her a reason.
"What do you think you were doing, you fool?!" she hissed. Irritas lowered his head obediently.
"I was protecting my Master. You were losing yourself to those….symbols. had I done nothing, you would have drifted away, lost forever to the Force."
Sebris looked down at her apprentice, her brow furrowed. Rationally, she knew he was right, but she wondered why he had saved her. The Rule of Two, the code of the Sith set forth by Darth Bane, stated that any weakness shown by the Master should be exploited, so the apprentice could rise and take up the mantle of Dark Lord.
"Why did you not simply let me die?"
"Because, Master, you have not taught me everything you know. Had I let you die, the Sith would have been ultimately weakened. You are still far and away my superior."
Sebris nodded, satisfied with his defense. She motioned for him to rise, then returned her attention to the etchings. The faint glow had been reduced to a faint after image, and the hissing was now gone.
Cautiously, she approached, but the stone remained inert and lifeless. Sebris huffed, growing frustrated. As she gazed at the carvings, the word sprang, unbidden, back to the forefront of her mind. Quietly, so she could hear it aloud, she whispered the word to herself. A shiver ran down her spine, and with a rush of cold air, a slab of the wall disintegrated to dust, revealing a dark tunnel. She motioned for Irritas to follow her, then the two made their way down the tunnel, their glow rods held high. The low ceiling forced Irritas to hunch over as the tunnel led them deep into the temple; meter after meter of unremarkable stone with no change, no end in sight, and little light would have driven most insane. But the two Sith pressed on, undaunted by the seemingly endless passageway.
Their persistence paid off. After hours of traversing the dark, cold tunnel, Sebris saw the dim light of torches ahead. Growing excited, she quickened her pace, eager to finally uncover the path to the mysterious planet. The passageway opened into a fairly large, dark chamber, lit only by three torches set in a triangle around the circumference of the room. The walls themselves were black, volcanic obsidian, roughly hewn as if by a giant claw. Bookshelves and wooden desks filled the chamber, manuscripts and sheets of flimsiplast and parchment strewn every surface of the wood. The chamber had most likely been the study of the unnamed creator of the Holocron, as evidenced by the presence of numerous Sith artifacts that rested among the clutter. At the center of the room was a pedestal, and resting on that pedestal, protected in a glass case, was a tome bound in black leather and etched with red filigree. That, Sebris knew, was her goal, what she had come for. She made her way through the cluttered study slowly, careful not to knock anything over. Carefully, she lifted the glass case and gingerly grabbed the book, opening it to the first page. Scrawled across the center were the words "The Gateway to Nirn: A Compilation of Histories".
Nirn, she thought, must be the name of the planet.
Beneath the title, written as neatly as possible so as to avoid confusion, were the coordinates and hyperspace data leading to Nirn. Darth Sebris, Dark Lady of the Sith, laughed in triumph. Soon, Nirn, and all of it's secrets, would be hers.