Inheritence

Chapter 8 - To Rebuild the Sith

Author's Note: There is only one more chapter after this, so enjoy! :D

~ Amina Gila

The sand looks like blood as his lightsaber lights their way with its eerie glow. The sun is setting, and soon they'll be left in the darkness. He knows enough about desert planets to know animals will soon be out and after them. The Dark Side clings to everything, from deep within the planet to the far outskirts. At first it felt like coming home, but now... it's too strong. He can feel it too much, too deeply, and it hurts. The icy cold is eating him inside out and it feels like it's drowning him. "I don't like this place."

"Don't tell me you're scared."

"I'm being cautious," Vader snaps, "I know enough about desert planets to know more animals will be out soon."

"I told you, dropping us off in the middle of Korriban would be a bad idea," Immuicus snips back.

"You never offered a better solution." It would help, he thinks, if he knew where to go, that there even was a place to go. It's been nearly a month, now, since Obi-Wan returned. The Dark Side is... overwhelming. Frankly, Vader has no idea how to control it. Ahsoka can't very well teach him, either.

"Maybe you should have thought twice before killing all the other Sith," she adds dryly. "I know one who could've handled you."

He knows who she's talking about, and he instantly tenses. He knows who she's talking about, and he remembers much too clearly what happened every other time they encountered each other. "Don't start this," he snaps.

"I don't think any other would have the patience."

"Patience?" Vader repeats, anger flaring and rushing through him. "You call that patience? He – he –" He cuts himself off, fists clenching. The memory of the blade slashing through his arm burns at the back of his mind. Of how Dooku captured him on Naboo, and... He's tried, he really has, not to remember any of it, but now, it's suddenly resurfacing. The itching feeling of being trapped, of being completely helpless, of only seeing the darkened room through the red-tinted ray-shield kept in front of him.

Oh. Oh. The only light right now is his lightsaber, which is red. It's stupid how those little things set him off, sometimes.

He flicks off his blade and stalks a few steps ahead of the other, scrambling to find some semblance of control. Something nags at his senses, demanding attention, whispering of danger.

"I knew you'd met him before, but..." She trots forwards, studying him. He hates that look, like he's some specimen to be studied. "What happened?"

"I'm surprised he didn't tell you," Vader shoots back. She seems honestly confused, and it grates on him, because he feels duty-bound to answer. "For how he gloated about it. For how he enjoyed it." That, he supposes, was the worst part of it, because – because that happened all the time on Tatooine. "Tell me, is it some normal Sith thing to hurt another to teach them control?"

She looks momentarily stricken. "It's – he didn't – he only did what he deemed necessary."

Vader scoffs and turns away. "And you're ceaselessly loyal to a dead man." He stalks off without looking back, though he hears the sand crunching beneath her boots behind him.

They continue in silence, neither bothering to hide their bitterness. Sometimes, he really likes having Ahsoka, but other times...

Something prickles at the edge of his awareness. Something dangerous is approaching them. Vader instantly goes tense. He reaches into the Force. It's hard to be so close to the Dark Side for so long, even now, but he never really let go of it. It's different to feel it in his surroundings instead of within himself. "Do you feel it?" he asks, stopping in his tracks.