Ask A Change in Perspective

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn hadn't been there the day the Sith had taken over Dantooine. In fact, he'd never been to Dantooine before today, but he knew about what had happened. He could still feel bits of the stain on the planet.

With his cover now intact within the Sith, he'd finally been given official approval and admission into the Shadows. It had been met with absolutely no pomp or ceremony, and at this point, it didn't even surprise Varyn. It was a relatively thankless job, but it was one that he felt he was actually going to have the opportunity to make a real difference. With that new position, he had gained access to a myriad of profiles, dossiers, mission reports, and more. He had tried to go through them, and among those files, he had found one on none other than the Champion he had met at Dromuund Kaas.

Aadya had been at Dantooine and had connection to Lord Raze. Getting close to her had the potential to get him closer to Raze and potentially an... assassination? Were Jedi allowed to assassinate people? Could they afford not to if it were someone as devoid of Light as Raze?

The idea of having to fight the Dark Lord was enough to send a chill down his spine as he waited for Aadya to arrive for the mission they'd received. She had suddenly gone from someone who was "of interest" to him to someone who was "of interest" to him.

 

[Aadya Rasheer]

As Aadya's ship slipped through the atmosphere of Dantooine her mood darkened ever so slightly. She had not been back here since the invasion when she and Raze stood victorious over the Jedi. A moment that, though she was unaware of its gravity at the time, would change the so much for her. More than she'd ever truly know, most likely.

She arrived at the meeting point a few minutes after she'd told Varyn to be there, happy to see that the kid was punctual and had gotten there already. She approached from behind him with silent footsteps, hands shoved into her pockets as Aadya stared absent mindedly towards the horizon.

Good to see you again, Varyn. Aadya said, walking up to stand next to him. You're acclimating well to the Sith, I trust?

Aadya's gaze still held onto blue-gray sky, watching the wispy clouds float lazily as a breeze kicked up. It was strange, though. Aadya could almost swear if she listened closely enough, really strained her ear, she could hear whispers on the breeze. Indecipherable, but there. The darkside hadn't left Dantooine, maybe it never would.

What do you know of this place? She asked, not turning to look at Varyn. Aadya could still feel the echo of what had been done here. What she and Raze had inflicted upon the Jedi who had so foolishly stood against them.

In retrospect, Aadya had been merciful. Her thoughts drifted to Yavin where she had met the pointy-eared Jedi girl again; the one she had defeated first on Dantooine. Perhaps it would be third times the charm and Aadya would be able to kill her next time.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn's senses were far away and close all at once. They were sweeping over this world, exploring its corners for hints and memories of what had happened here. This world had a deep and rich history with the Jedi, but that had been largely marred in recent days by the Sith.

He could still feel the echoes of what had happened here, and it felt like a hole in his heart. He didn't miss the arrival of Aadya, but it didn't quite pull him out of his contemplative mood. He didn't immediately turn to look at her as she stood next to him, both of them looking out over the open planes as the winds tugged gently at the tall grass.

I'm not dead yet, he replied. That was the measure of a Sith's success, right? Not being dead? They killed each other, they killed others, and most lived short, violent lives. The Empress was what? Thirty? The councilors were in their twenties? They burned bright and short, it seemed.

Denon, Dantooine, Ajan Kloss, he replied to her question. All the places where the Sith have killed a Jedi Councilor, he said. While Master Grayza hadn't technically been on the Council anymore, the principle was the same. In contrast there was Coruscant, Sullust, Dromuund Kaas, Dathomir, and Junction: the planets where Sith Councilors had been killed. The only difference was that apart from Sullust and Coruscant the Sith had been responsible for all of those deaths as well.

It's left a mark. A scar on this place. And probably on the people who were there, he guessed. He didn't know her well, but he didn't have to in order to sense the shift in her now that they were here. She was different... more sober.

 

[Aadya Rasheer]

Hrm, no, Aadya replied, shaking her head. That's what everyone knows. I asked what do you know.

Aadya walked away from Varyn, out into the tall grass. She wouldn't motion for him to follow, though if he had any sense at all he would. Unless, of course, he just wanted to stand there all alone looking foolish.

She would lead him a little ways off from where they had met until Aadya found a small clearing in the grass, somewhat of a circle and big enough for them to both sit down. Probably the spot where an old tree once grew, though nothing remained of it now.

Taking out her lightsaber, Aadya would motion to Varyn to follow suit as she sat down cross legged before placing the weapon between them. Aadya's lightsaber had been with her for a very long time. She had earned it as a Jedi and had kept it ever since. It had seen many battles and harmed, even killed many people - including Jedi. She knew it better than she knew herself.

Let me show you what I know of Dantooine. She said, her gaze falling onto Varyn. Aadya's expression was stony and solemn. Open your mind to what I am going to show you. Don't resist it.

Using both the darkside that swirled in this place as well as her own lightsaber as a focus, Aadya would recall her memories of Dantooine and project them so that Varyn too could see, and most important feel what she had.

It would start with rage. Not simply anger, something more primal. Not hate, either, though. Fury, the kind that made your blood run hot. That made it feel like your veins pumped battery acid. Vision tunneled only on the source.

A vision. Varyn would see it from Aadya's perspective. Hand wrapped around the throat of a trembling, pointy-eared Jedi girl. The satisfaction of seeing her struggle. It would taste like victory. But only a taste.

An eruption of despair, self loathing. Falling into yourself like a dying star. Clawing at the edges of a pit but only sinking deeper. It must be what dying felt like, something swallowing you up until..

Salvation. A hand plunging into the water where you are drowning, pulling you up to take a gasping breath. Rebirth as something better than you were before.

Varyn would see Aadya and Raze standing victorious over the beaten and dead Jedi on Dantooine. The vision would linger for a moment before everything faded away and they were right bac where they started, sitting across from each other in a field.

More than death occurred on Dantooine, Varyn. Aadya said before standing, her legs just a little bit shaky from the concentration required for what she had just done. Things are never so black and white.

Taking out a small, handwritten map, Aadya would give it to Varyn.

Lead was all that she said.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn felt a sense of impending doom creep along his neck. It wasn't the first time he had felt it since he'd come to the Sith, and every time it happened he feared what it heralded. Perhaps his death was mere days away or maybe a far worse fate would await him.

He followed her as she wandered out into the grass, something about her today was absolutely different, and he still couldn't shake that feeling that at any moment she was going to pull out her saber and he would be in a fight for his life once again.

She did pull out her lightsaber, but not for that reason. She set it down in front of her and indicated for him to do the same. He sat on the ground, unsure what to expect next. He was hesitant to open his mind to any Sith, but he also knew that to refuse would be unwise.

And so he did. He let her memories, her emotions, and her understanding flow into him. To defeat your enemy, you had to know your enemy. On a level he knew many Jedi wouldn't approve of, but he wasn't here for glory anymore. The dreams he'd had as a Padawan seemed unlikely to come to fruition anymore, but his desire for that fame... still existed. In a portion of his mind that he attempted to refuse to yield ground to.

As their minds finally touched one another, there was a sudden onslaught of emotions and images that he had a difficult time grasping. He was no longer here and he was no longer himself. He saw the flashes, felt the desperation, felt the helplessness. It felt like choking and drowning, like having your face forced into an inch of mud with no way to escape as the air in your lungs started to burn.

And then there was a gasp. A breath of air as someone pulled you from that death and gave you the means to put your would-be killer into the ground. It felt good.

Beyond the feelings, though, was what he saw. He saw Clove and he saw Aadya and he saw Raze. The emotions that flowed over him from each of them were far stronger and more violent than he had experienced in recent memory. It was a visceral kind of emotion that you didn't just feel, but that became you.

His eyes snapped back open, his breathing rapid and shallow. He didn't know at what point he had ignited the lightsaber in his hand, but it now burned into the dirt in front of him under his vice-like grip. It's hum was the only sound besides the rustling of the grass and the gasps of his breathing.

He didn't know what he felt. He wanted to stab her, he wanted to weep, he wanted to leave, he wanted to run. Impulse and instinct clawed over his mind, and no matter how many times he told himself that there was no emotion, there was peace, it just didn't feel like it carried any weight here. It felt like an empty promise.

When she pulled out the map, he didn't move. He simply knelt there, teeth now clenched, fighting with everything that he had just felt.

Why do you hate them?

 

[Aadya Rasheer]

If you are going to draw your weapon on me, do so from your feet. Not from your knees. Aadya said, looking down at Veryn but not moving her head. Her tone was even but authoritative and dismissing.

Aadya's lightsaber snapped to her hand from its place on the ground, though she did not ignite it. Her gaze lingered on Varyn's face, gold flecks swimming in her otherwise dark, mahogany eyes. Varyn would find no sympathy on Aadya's face for the torment of emotions that roiled within him, for she knew them very, very well. Aadya had actually lived them, after all.

If that is your only take away from what I showed you, you have much further to go than you realize. You ask a simple question in hopes of receiving a simple answer. She said, lightsaber still in her hand. But I already told you, things are never so black and white.

Aadya would clip her lightsaber to her belt where it had hung before and reach her hand out to Varyn to help him to his feet. It would be up to him whether or not to take it. Regardless, Aadya would continue.

I do not hate the Jedi, Varyn, Aadya said matter-of-factly. Because I do not hate myself. I belonged to them once, a long time ago. I used to be a Jedi. She let that fact hang in the air for a moment, her gaze not breaking from Varyn, not even for a moment.

What I used to be doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what I am now. She said, holding out the map to Varyn once again.

What are you?

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Atrix]

He didn't move. He knew he was supposed to get up, to do something Sith, but he didn't want to. And perhaps there was nothing more Sith than simply doing what you wanted, not what anyone else told you.

His mind shifted to the lightsaber in his hand. For the first time it felt like the weapon felt a a piece of him. A connection to him that it had never had before. After several more moments, his saber flashed out and he returned it to his belt.

He looked up at her eyes and saw nothing. There was void without emotion, but he saw beyond that. He saw something else she didn't want anyone else to see. There was a fear under there. A fear that he wasn't even sure she saw.

She admitted to being a Jedi, and the first thing he wanted to do was ask her why. Why did she do this? Why had she walked away? Why had she become the monster that stood in front of him now? Or was she really a monster? Was she just a girl, lost and afraid who told herself she wasn't?

He was silent.

He pushed to his feet, snatching the map from her hand and looking at it. The emotions flowing through him still twisted his mind, clawing for dominance. He looked at the map and took the first steps through the grass, silently.

The final question rung in his mind, but he didn't stop moving forward. One foot in front of the other, time and again. He thought of telling her he was a Jedi who had left the Order and come here in secret. Weaving layers of lie upon lie, but the risk was too great.

There are no easy answers. Nothing is black and white, he said. There was no snark or satisfied smirk to accompany the use of her own statement against her. Just the simple truth of it all. They said only Sith dealt in absolutes, and he wondered if that meant this thought in her mind was a byproduct of her days as a Jedi. He didn't hold his breath.

He followed the map across the grasslands, having no idea what he would find at the end, but unrelenting as if he might find some sort of answer at the end.

You walked away from Dantooine a different person than when you came, didn't you? he finally asked after a long silence.

 

[Aadya Rasheer]

Beneath her otherwise stony façade Aadya smirked at Varyn's answer to her question. It was precisely the kind of answer she would have given, although she noticed a distinctive lack of sass coming from the kid. A part of her couldn't help but be just a little disappointed.

Yes. She replied. A straightforward answer for a probing question. Aadya didn't say anything for a few moments, contemplating just how far she would let Varyn in. Like pulling myself out of the water when I didn't even know I was drowning.

As the two moved further out into the open grass fields of the Dantooine prairie, the atmosphere around them would start to change. In subtle ways, mostly, but to anyone who knew the Force, the change was undeniable. A rocky outcropping loomed in the distance, a cave entrance clearly visible.

Dantooine taught me that each of us make choices. That the skeletons you bury always make their way to the surface, no matter how deep down you try to hide them. And no matter how much you don't want to, we must confront and accept the consequences of the choices we make.

It may have seemed like an obvious lesson and maybe it was one Varyn had already learned and understood. But for Aadya, who'd spent her whole life running from everything, unsure of who she even was as a person, it was the most important thing she'd ever learned.

Why did you seek out the Sith? She asked. It may have seemed like a random question, but Aadya found that the answer to that particular question could tell you a lot about a person.

And for whatever inexplicable reason, she wanted to know more about Varyn Atrix.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn thought about what she said, and more than that, he thought about the emotion behind it. She may have wanted to hide who and what she was from the galaxy, but there was just a hint of it there. There was slivers of truth in everything she said.

The bill comes due, he said quietly, thinking about that and what it would mean for him. Everything he did in the Sith was the long con to try to bring down the Empire, but what would he have to do in order to maintain his cover? Who would he have to fight or kill? What would happen to others or himself because of it?

He thought about the answer to her question, and it wasn't an easy answer.

I didn't seek the Sith out, he said after a moment. My master found me, living in squalor and surrounded by crime, he said. The lie he had concocted was easy to remember because it was mostly true. Only the most critical of details had been altered.

The night my mom was killed, he pulled me out of that place. Gave me the chance to fight back. After he was killed, too, I came back to the Sith because I wanted to keep fighting, he said. She would be able to feel the emotions tied to the words were quite real because although it had been a Jedi that rescued him that night, that night was a very real memory.

He turned back to look at her, eyes now more hardened than they were earlier. There was a grim determination that couldn't be faked.

He turned back to keep walking on, mind still drinking in the remnants of this place. Why do you fight? he asked. The question was very specific. Everyone fought for their own reasons, clawing their way through this galaxy, and he had seen hints of it in her, but hints weren't answers.

 

[Aadya Rasheer]

Varyn's story was a familiar one to Aadya. She had lived it herself, mostly. Not entirely the same but the most of the details lined up. She'd grown up in squalor and surrounded by crime. Someone had shown up to save her, too, though it hadn't been a Sith. Aadya often wondered how her life may have been different if a Sith had found her instead of a Jedi.

Aadya contemplated Varyn's question while they walked, the silence that hung between them of no real concern to her. His questions had been deliberate and Aadya felt they deserved genuine answers - which was funny, when she thought about it. Sith, in her experience, were never straight forward with their answers.

Some were more truthful than others in their veiled doublespeak, but there was always something hidden between the words. Aadya had decided a long time ago that wasn't the way she was going to be.

I'm sure you expect some answer like 'for glory, for the thrill' or 'I enjoy watching people die.' She said with a smirk, casting a side-eyed glance over to Varyn. But no, not so much.

The two had finally arrived at the outcropping. The air around it was denser, heavy with the weight of the Force. The dark side thrummed all around them, and Varyn would be able to feel it pouring out of the cave like heat from a fire place.

I fight because I'm not going to spend my entire life letting other people tell me who I am. Good or bad. Savior or killer. Hero or villain. I fight because I won't let the past decide my future, I decide that for myself.

Aadya paused for a moment, turning to look at Varyn. The Jedi offer nothing but stagnation. They search for answers in the past instead of looking forward. The Republic is a festering glob of corruption and ineptitude. And maybe it's our job to destroy everything to build something better.

Aadya turned her attention to the cave, letting the darkside flowing from it to soothe her, like slipping into a hot bath.

Why do you fight?

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn actually chuckled as she talked about how she didn't have such a caricaturish reason for fighting. But more than that, as she answered his question, it gave him pause for a long moment. She was a former Jedi, and he wanted what she said to be wrong, but it wasn't. It may not have all been right, but there was something to be said about the Jedi constantly looking to the past. He certainly didn't think the Jedi were the entire problem, but they may have still had their own work to do.

You don't find fighting a little thrilling? he asked. It was something he certainly shouldn't have admitted as a Jedi, but he wasn't supposed to feel like a Jedi here. He couldn't give in to his own dark side, but he also knew that the best way to bury his Jedi connections was to appear not to be a Jedi.

He could feel the darkness crawling from the cave. The cycles of the galaxy seemed to twist around him, careening from balance into a lopsided emphasis on death and predation.

I fight because I don't like bullies. If the only way to put them in their place is to get strong enough to put them there, then so be it, he said. He thought of the old saying in the Dark Side Souls community to "git gud" and realized it was something that applied to real life as well. The only way to stop someone who was a threat was to be too good for them to deal with.

Where'd this come from? he asked, clearly indicating the cave of darkness. It was a place that threatened him but also offered a promise of safety and the strength he needed to do exactly what he had just spoken about.

 

[Aadya Rasheer]

Is that the only reason? She asked, her face clearly skeptical. Aadya stared at Varyn for a long, hanging moment, her eyes almost staring straight through him instead of simply at him. When people don't have something to fight for, they settle for something to fight against.

Aadya couldn't shake the feeling that every answer Varyn gave her seemed to only be half an answer. There always seemed to be something missing, intentionally left out. The young acolyte may have thought she wouldn't notice, or maybe he wasn't even doing it on purpose. He wouldn't be the first Sith Aadya had met that was guarded, intentionally or not.

But trust in my experience when I tell you that it simply will not be enough to sustain you. Aadya's gaze narrowed and her face fell back into stone, a grimace forming in the corners of her mouth. Eventually you will find yourself lost, blinded by vendetta. Your legs stuck and unmoving, like wading through cement. And there you will languish and you might as well be dead.

Aadya turned to face the cave, contemplating Varyn's question about it. It beckoned to them both with invisible fuck-me-eyes, whispering a song in their ears that neither of them could quite make out. The darkside thumped in a steady rhythm like the cave itself had its own beating heart.

Dantooine has always been a planet rich in the force. As far back as the old republic according to the texts I have read. She said, not bothering to turn to look at Varyn. An unfortunate habit she'd picked up from Raze, but there was some merit in it at least. It tended to make people pay more attention, afraid to miss something.

This place has always been, the same way the Force has always been. Where there is light there is darkness, always. Aadya stared at the cave entrance for a few moments. The events on Dantooine have awoken subdued darkside energies here. She said before heading towards the cave.

Something here wishes to be found. You feel it, yes? She asked as they crossed the threshold of the cave. The path that lead deeper inside did so at a dangerously steep slope, heading downward, deep into the inky blackness.

Aadya required no assistance to see in the dark and wouldn't provide any to Varyn, curious to see if he would take his own initiative as they walked.

What do you know of force nexuses?

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Atrix]

As she asked if that was his only reason, he shrugged. Where else was I supposed to go? Strike out to grab what power I could on my own? People don't survive very long on their own without a structure to support them, he said. Maybe he was admitting to a weakness by saying that because there were those who could build their own system or make it completely on their own. Those people were by far the exception.

Maybe, he said with a nod as she said that it wouldn't be enough to sustain him. Being a Jedi - and he now suspected the same was true of the Sith - did not have the same meaning to everyone. For every person there was who was a Jedi or a Sith, there was a different interpretation of what it meant to be a Jedi or Sith.

He also couldn't help but note that her explanation of what he would feel was from personal experience. He yet again found himself wondering what exactly had happened to her to turn her into... what she was now.

He followed after her, making a steep descent into the earth as the cave beckoned and drew them in. Like an air conditioner on a blistering day.

The darkness started to swallow him, but he wasn't one to rely on others for things. He may not have brought a flashlight, but they both knew what he had on his hip that could serve the purpose just as well. He pulled the saber from his hip and lit it up, the blood-red glow adding a different perspective to their descent toward whatever was within.

Not much. Concentrations of Force energy. Don't know why they're actually useful, he said. He felt almost blinded down here, the intensity of the Force energy here washing out the sensation of anything else as they proceeded.

It was probably several hundred yards in before Varyn noticed the first carving in the walls. It looked like a portion of the wall had been smoothed out. As they proceeded further, more things looked hewn and shaped as if they were skirting into the outskirts of some ancient ruin, more forms taking shape the further in they went.

 

[Aadya Rasheer]

It's not a question on whether or not it's useful, Aadya said, raising a judgmental eyebrow towards Varyn. It was becoming increasingly evident that she was with someone younger and less... mature. Such short sightedness. Nexuses are important in more ways that I care to list out to you.

Aadya too noticed the change in the walls of the cavern as they descended further. She traced her fingers along the smooth stone, stopping when there was a change in the relief of the wall; something carved in, precise and deep.

Are you familiar with Sith runes? She asked, figuring Varyn probably wasn't. Not a lot of people were, especially not those new to the Sith. Aadya had spent a decent amount of time studying them, but she was absolutely no expert. I recognize some of these. This one here is actually somewhat concerning, She said idly, pointing to one of the carved runs near the top of the wall.

It says dwomutsiqsa, The word rolled off Aadya's tongue in a somewhat practiced accented inflection. It's a summoning ritual for a.. smoke demon. She said the last part slowly as it dawned on her, her voice betraying the tinge of worried annoyance Aadya tried to keep off her face.

Pushing further into the ruin, Aadya took notice of the forms that had just been hazed shadows a little bit before. Strange stone obelisks jutted from the ground all around the area, their tips jagged and menacing. Carved into the face of each obelisk was a rune, each one different from the others.

Rituals as strong as dwomutsiqsa generally require numerous sacrifices. I wonder if each of these is a grave for some unlucky idiot lured here by the old sorcerers. It would explain the strong darkside presence that has lingered here.

Standing in front of the largest of the obelisks, Aadya sat on the ground and began to meditate.

Look around to see if you can find anything interesting. Be careful though, disturbing ancient Sith spirits generally doesn't end well. Aadya paused for a moment, peering at Varyn from the corner of her eye. And if it comes down to it, I have no reservations giving this place on last sacrifice.

Aadya returned to facing the obelisk and closed her eyes, letting the darkside run over her, hoping to find some answers or direction in what they may find among the ruins.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Atrix]

If it wasn't useful, then why did anyone care about it? If there was nothing to be gained from it, then why bother? No, Varyn didn't believe it wasn't useful, but he didn't know what that usefulness was.

Exactly, and I don't know what all those reasons are, he said, a hint of annoyance of defiance creeping into his tone that he probably would have been wiser to keep in check.

He followed further down, watching as she looked at the runes.

No, he said with a shake of his head. He listened intently as she talked about what they meant, and then his gut dropped a little. He really didn't like the sound of that at all.

Right... he said, suddenly really hoping that he didn't actually find anything. As she mentioned not-so-subtly that she would leave him to die, he made no response. That was pretty much what he expected from a Sith. They were proving to be exactly what he had always thought. Yep.

As she stopped to do... whatever she was doing, he started looking around. It was dark down here, but his saber lit the way. His free hand continued to follow the wall for a bit of additional direction.

His foot caught on something and he jolted forward, catching himself before tripping and falling flat on his face. A glance back showed him that it was a large lever in the ground. He turned and pulled it - okay maybe not the best idea - but lights began to turn on all over the underground.

It was only now that he could see perhaps a dozen or two yards away, the chasm opened up into what looked to be a huge city of sorts.

Uh... Aadya! You might want to see this! he shouted back into the cave behind him.

 

[Aadya Rasheer]

Lights suddenly springing forth and illuminating the darkness caused Aadya's eyes to snap open as she stood to her feet in an instant. She wheeled around to follow his calling her. her lips pursed in annoyance as she walked up to the acolyte and his freshly pulled lever.

You must have skipped the lesson at the academy about not pulling levers in ancient ruins, She said, though her attention was less on Varyn's stupidity and more on the.. city? that had suddenly appeared in the chasm just ahead.

Aadya's trepidation was only outweighed by her sheer curiosity about what could possibly lie ahead in the ruined city. It was possible they were the first people to see this place in centuries, maybe longer. It would be a disservice not to go check it out. Right?

I have to say, I wasn't quire sure what we would find down here, but a Sith citadel definitely wouldn't have been on my bingo card. Before she could say much more, Aadya got a strange feeling through the force, a ripple of warning that usually preluded something dangerous.

Eyes narrowing in contemplation, Aadya turned her attention back to Varyn. I sense something across the chasm, but can't quite make it out. Do you feel it? She asked, her tone quiet. You've awoken more than just the darkside with that lever, Varyn.

Without much else, Aadya would start making her way towards the sunken city hidden beneath Dantooine, her thoughts a swirling mix of what-ifs and what-the-fucks.

Let's go find out what.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn looked back as she made her way into the room, shaking his head.

You can't prove I did anything, he objected. It was true, though he also knew that she didn't technically have to prove anything. His mind, however, was quite distracted as was hers. His eyes swept over the chasm ahead, and he couldn't decide if he wanted to press on or turn back. Surely whatever was ahead was going to be dangerous, but also... amazing? An adventure like no other and possibly some answers.

Yeah... he said, sensing it as well. Whatever was across the way was going to be... it didn't seem happy they were here.

He hopped down a ledge and followed along the trail, looking down into the chasm below them. It was dark and he couldn't see how far it went.

Look how much better we can see with the lights on, he said, the joke more to alleviate his own discomfort than anything else.

He reached down for his lightsaber, grabbing it in his hand as he hopped down to another walkway. He stepped forward before hearing a click. He looked down, spotting the pressure plate under his foot.

Crap, crap, crap, he muttered. Stay back! I've got this, he said. Maybe it was just those Jedi instincts kicking in that made him want to protect her or anyone else around him. He could deal with this... oh yeah, easy...

@Logan