Star Wars: The Ancient Apprentice

[naughtypadawan]

Jedi Master Kerr Garreth walked uneasily into the foliage-overgrown tomb, shining a light ahead of him. If this truly were a Sith tomb, as the local villagers insisted, then he had to be cautious. Not all artifacts left behind by those ancient dark warriors were inanimate, and they were known to booby-trap their resting places.

Kerr was a tall near-human who looked younger than his fifty-six years. Long, red-blond hair fell straight back over his shoulders, and his dark eyes shifted with his gaze over the stone enclosure. He was a lifelong student of archaeology, which is why the Council had diverted him from his latest mission to the planet of Lorinia. However, he generally studied more pleasant civilizations than the Sith, and he wondered if he weren't out of his depth.

Cautiously he turned a corner, only to find his way blocked by what appeared to be a dust and cobweb-covered statue, lying on a waist-high stone slab. The statue had roughly humanoid proportions, and what might have been a Twi'lek's lekku hanging down at the sides. With the covering of dust, it was impossible to tell whether the statue was a true Sith artifact or not. Kerr brushed at the facial area, and touched not stone, but . . . flesh.

Shocked, he stumbled back, shining his light straight into the reclining being's face. It seemed to him that he had just unearthed a ghost. Kerr stepped forward again, the hand that held the light shaking a little.

The face that he had exposed was that of a Twi'lek boy about fourteen years old, pale yellow-skinned, with intricate black tattoos over what was visible of his body. With the exception of the tattoos, the face was a near-exact copy of that of Kerr's own young apprentice, killed in battle over seven years ago.

Kerr had loved young Nari like a son, and unwelcome tears stung his eyes at this near-twin, lying silent, motionless, apparently dead. Unable to help himself, he reached out and brushed his fingers over the boy's hand.

[Angel]

The moment his hand touched the twi'lek's, everything began to unravel. A flash erupted from around the boy for a moment, clearly designed to startle and disorient interlopers.

When he could look back, the stasis was melting away. Quickly, it vanished, leaving the boy sitting there. For several moments he was still, before groggily opening his eyes. He looked down, the sight returning a bit at a time, before looking around... And spotting a stranger. It took a moment, before rage enveloped his features. He threw his hands forward, shoving Kerr across the room with the force.

"INTRUDER!" he snarled, and pulled his blades from the machine. Igniting them, he revealed two purple bladed lightsabers, curved at the hilt.

[naughtypadawan]

Kerr grabbed his saber hilt from his waist and ignited it with a deadly snap-hiss, ready to defend himself if he had to. It appeared that the boy himself was one of the tomb's booby traps, and Kerr had stumbled right into him. Stupid. His sentimentality had blinded him.

Still, it was impossible to look at the boy and not see his lost Nari. Instead of immediately entering the mindset for a fight, he couldn't help but ask, "Who are you?"

[Angel]

The sith hissed at him, standing at the ready. "I am Tamis, apprentice to Darth Antel, jedi, and you are tresspassing in his tomb. Leave, or face death!" he snapped at him, ready to fight if he need to. The boy was in a weird way with his looks. He was partway between a cute child, and a handsome young man.

[naughtypadawan]

"Why are you guarding a dead man?" Kerr asked. "Surely, no greater harm can come to him." He didn't really expect to be able to reason with Tamis, but if he could keep the boy talking and distracted, it lessened the chance of Kerr getting one of those purple sabers through his gut.

[Angel]

"My lord ordered me to guard him and his belongings from looters. You stumbled into his trap." he said, glaring at the man. "You came here to steal his secrets for your order. I know it!"

[naughtypadawan]

Most of the time, the Jedi didn't so much steal secrets from Sith artifacts as they sealed them away to keep other people from stealing their secrets, but Kerr doubted that Tamis would see much of a distinction. Instead, he changed the topic of conversation. "You must have loved your master a great deal, to allow yourself to be sealed into his tomb. But what becomes of you? You're very young, and eternity is a long time. Too long to be spent in the service of a dead man."

[Angel]

The twi'lek was taken aback for a moment, before regaining some composure. "Shut up, jedi! What do you know about love? You sell your feelings to your order, and lock them away. You don't love. You don't feel!" he hissed at him.

[naughtypadawan]

"Perhaps I don't," Kerr said, knowing that there would be no way to convince this Sith child otherwise. "But you clearly do. You've been shut in here too long. Why don't you come out into the light and see what's changed since you were put in stasis?"

[Angel]

"Why should I trust you?" he snapped at him. He was trained to never trust jedi. To never believe their words. But the master could see through Tamis's tough act; He was still a fourteen year old boy. He was as scared of Kerr, as Kerr was wary of him.