A Prince of Dathomir (Darth Maul x OC)

Memory - Part 2

Later that night, Zaiya slept outside, on one of the sides of the rocky mountains that surrounded the Nightsister village. It was a place she liked to go sometimes but now she had a whole new reason. Laid on her blanket so she could watch the sky. Since Maul had mentioned it, she couldn't stop looking up. It felt like her eyes were opened now; she could see slight patterns in the stars, changes in the darkness, some areas were more blue than black. Hearing her friend talk about it, it was like there was beauty there that she hadn't been able to see before. There was something so beautiful about it that she couldn't believe she hadn't noticed it before.

"Are you really so obsessed now?" came a familiar small voice. Her head shifted, looking up beyond the soft locks of her ashen white hair. Her blue eyes landed on the grey ones of her red and black friend. Her smile curved upside down, her upper lip tattooed in the same darker shade as the rest of the markings on either side of her face, that same bright smile she always had when she saw him.

"You opened my eyes, so I want to see more." She told him as he padded over. Her crimson coat was balled up as a pillow under her head, but she shuffled over on it and her blanket, petting the ground beside her for him to join her. He paused, then took a seat beside her.

"You like it that much?" He asked, looking at her with a slight frown. Zaiya nodded and he let out a little sigh, leaning back and laying beside her on the makeshift bed to look up at the sky.

"It's beautiful." She told him emphatically, her eyes drawing back up to the sky. "I know what I want to do now. I want to see all the stars and be the strongest I can be. I'm not afraid, I will take the trials and earn my Crimson. Maybe even stronger than you!" She giggled, grinning once more.

Maul snorted derisively, "Yeah right." he shook his head, but a smirk on his lips as he too gazed into the sky, eventually falling asleep beside his friend.

-)O(-

Training increased, and soon after they had made their promise, Maul was sent to the Nightbrother village. It was harder to see him, but that did not stop her. She had to learn how to drive a speeder, though she was too small to reach the pedals. It was a long way to walk so the Nightsister had to come up with a new way.

Dathomir was home to many dangerous flora and fauna. Poisonous plants, fungus and the pods that held the dead. There were also snakes, eels in the waters, loping beasts in the forests, skittering bugs in the marshes. And Rancors. These beasts were formidable and powerful, huge forearms and heads squashed into their bodies, a flat snout, leathery plates and claws and teeth, they could easily kill a weak Nightsister or Brother with one swipe. But they were also fast. So Zaiya made up her mind.

She travelled in secret to the marshes, using all the skills she had been taught thus far to track down one of these beasts. There were large footprints in the mud as she walked, and found it hard to pull her little feet out of the thick marsh to move quickly. To her detriment, she forgot an important rule when hunting Rancors... don't get caught on the ground.

There was a growl and Zaiya, who had been too focused on the footprint in front of her, looked up sharply. There stood a huge beast, huffing. Its hot breath rising before it in the cold air.

"Oh..." was all she could manage, before the thing charged her. Zaiya tried to move, only just managed to duck aside, losing the shoe on her right foot as she yanked her leg from the mud. The girl found something to cling to, and scrambled up the nearest twisted tree. She was glad Sheena wasn't there, else she would have been punished severely. She hugged the trunk of the stupid tree as she tried to shimmy her way higher as the rancor circled around, aiming to swing at her again. She leapt from the trunk seconds before it splintered into a thousand pieces behind her. Landing on soft but solid ground, she took off running. She was fast, but this thing had far longer legs than she did, it was only a matter of time before it caught her and turned her into minced Sister. She was sure Maul would tell her she had the dumbest plans, and right now she agreed with him. But that thought reminded her of why she was doing this. To go see him again.