Savage-Time Chapter 14 (Patreon)

[Wasskah, Island Four]

Kalifa

“Quickly before they follow us!” The urgency in her voice was marred by the fear that Kalifa felt, fear, it had become so familiar and ever present in the new life that she had on this cursed moon.

“I’m trying to! I’m tired of running” Max was a new arrival and he had already lost patience with the nature of our new situation “I will fight!”

“If you fight you will die, you have to trust us” Kalifa was trying so hard to keep him alive, but he couldn’t see it, too caught up in the thought of being a Jedi to think about his own life.

“We are defenders of the peace and yet here you are running from no name Trandoshans that are too scared of fighting proper Jedi” Max sneered before turning around “Following you was a mistake; I will get out of here. I must”

With those words of determination, the youngling leapt into a tree and when to meet his fate, Kalifa wanted to believe that like all the others that had chosen to fight, Max too would be able to escape, but that was nothing more than wishful thinking.

The sound of repeated blaster fire and the screams of the boy as he was gunned down without mercy dispelled any feeling of hope they may have, he too would be beheaded and mounted on a wall as the sick monsters reveled in the killing of another jedi.

Some part of her longed to join them, to try and fight as she had been taught, Kalifa too wanted to help the people that were brought here, her principles, her very nature as a Jedi screamed at her to do the brave thing and help, the honorable thing and fall in battle as she helped at least one of them escape, the right thing as she died for the cause.

But that was the problem, she didn’t want to die. Not here and not like this at the hands of the cowardly lizards that hunted children. Kalifa looked at Jinx and O-Mer who had guilty looks on their faces but after a moment of hesitation they all continued moving.

Kalifa’s mind was in turmoil at her actions, at once again leaving behind a comrade, but it was not out of malice that she did this, her actions were born of hope.

The hope that the Jedi were still looking for them and that if they survived long enough, they would all be rescued, that the Jedi would learn of her struggles and find her worthy enough to be assigned a master and eventually she would become a knight wandering the galaxy dealing with scum like the Trandoshans.

Only once before they had talked about their hopes, when there were more of them, and it hadn’t been so long that not even she could remember how long it had been since she was captured.

Jinx joked about it, being Twi’lek he said was knowing that at any point he could become a slave because that’s how the people of the galaxy saw them and that one day, he would stop all the slavers in the galaxy.

They had cheered then, and much praise was heaped on him for his noble aspirations, but as they lost more and more friends to the hunts, so too did Jinx lose his fighting spirit and the hope of one day saving people from the same fate. He now focused only on survival and in keeping the anger that he felt locked up.

O-Mer had helped with that, he had much experience with undirected anger, not being able to interact with your father even when he too was a Jedi was rather harsh but such was the fate for those born of Ki-Adi-Munid, while exempt from the rules about fraternization, the high council had made it law that he was not to interact with any of his children should they prove force sensitive and that under no circumstances would he be allowed to take one of them as a padawan.

O-Mer understood the position his father was in and the duty that one day he would also carry as one of the few males of the species, that didn’t make it good or tolerable, but he could understand and that was enough. On more than one occasion Kalifa had heard him mutter in his sleep as O-Mer dreamed of his father coming to rescue him, tears marring his face every morning as the dream ended and the nightmare began.

In the distance the hissing sounds of the lizards as they celebrated filled her with rage, once more she wasn’t powerful or convincing enough to save a comrade.

“Kalifa, we have to keep moving” O-Mer whispered as he pulled her arm “They are too close, we will need to find a new place to sleep”

“Our base is too high for them to see and even if it’s not ideal we can hide there until they catch our scent, they can’t move as well as us in the jungle. We have the advantage here” Jinx responded as he looked around for any sign of the hunters.

“Jinx is right, higher ground means a better view and the birds are our only source of reliable food” Kalifa answered as she looked at O-Mer who after a few seconds nodded.

“Let’s go”

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It didn’t take them long to arrive at the ‘house’ they lived in, it took them even less time to fall asleep but the peaceful rest, for all that it could be called that with the constant sound of the hunters moving about in the jungle below, was soon interrupted by a feeling of danger.

Kalifa had been the first to wake up but she didn’t even have to move or call out to the others before they too woke up.

“Do you feel it?” O-Mer asked as he hugged himself.

“The cold” answered Jinx as he rubbed his hands together.

“It’s more than that it feels like…like” Kalifa started before she was suddenly interrupted by a new voice.

“Like it’s burning you, as if the cold pierced your skin and filled your very being with all the dark thoughts that hide away in your heart” the voice was calm but the hint of danger in every word put Kalifa’s mind on alert

“It calls at you, it wants you to let out the savage nature that hides inside that veneer of dogma that stops you from embracing what you feel” the sound of steps in the dark and the glow of red eyes coming from the shadows revealed the location of their visitor.

The voice of the man could be heard even inside her mind the echoes of the words spoken repeating themselves as he took in a deep breath “Can you not feel it? the power, the promise of freedom...”

“What the hell are you talking about?” O-Mer had lost his usual composure and calm, his body was trembling, and he looked ready to throw himself at the mysterious visitor waiting in the shadows.

“Younglings” the man said while shaking his head, Kalifa only noticed this fact because his eyes moved as his head shook “Open yourselves to the Force and hear the sound of darkness” it was a suggestion and an order, his tone delicate and harsh at the same time and without even a second of delay after he spoke Kalifa was following his order.

She heard it, the night whispered of terrible things as the jungle shouted for blood, the earth beneath rattling with the bones of so many dead that they formed an unending chorus. Kalifa wanted to scream, to tear out her hair and claw at her face just to stop the sound as it drove her mad.

“Control yourselves and truly listen, beyond the pain, beyond the anger and the fear, can you hear it?”

“I-I can hear it. it’s…its’ beautiful, it’s freedom” Jinx's response was almost euphoric, and it made Kalifa want to hear whatever he heard too.

She concentrated on hearing beyond the torturous sounds in the dark and looked for the answer in the force, she was ready to hear it too, she wanted to hear it before she couldn’t find herself again in the currents of the force.

It was an instant, a second that paradoxically lasted an eternity, an impassioned cry of victory that reverberated all around her.

“It’s not freedom Jinx, it’s courage” Kalifa was mesmerized by the thing that she spent so long looking for, the power to take action regardless of the consequences, that had always been there and she just had to grasp it.

The shadow chuckled before speaking “You are close, so close, but you are wrong. It’s neither freedom nor courage, it’s something better, what you just heard is power. The power to be free from your inhibitions and the right to follow your passions”

“DON’T LISTEN TO HIM!”

The scream of O-Mer broke the spell that she was in and the world became mundane again but in the farthest corners of her mind the sound remained like a figure just out of vision and she knew that if she focused she could see the figure.

O-Mer planted himself between Kalifa and Jinx and looked angrily at the shadow; he raised his fist and looked ready to fight.

“He is our enemy” O-Mer had a surprising amount tranquility in his voice and in her senses, Kalifa had never felt him as strongly as she did now shining in light so bright it made her want to turn away “he is a Sith and he was trying to corrupt you”

Kalifa wanted to deny it, her heart beating wildly in her chest as her mind refused to accept what O-Mer said, she waited for the stranger to deny it, she wanted to hear the shadow say that it wasn’t true or else she would be forever haunted by the sweet tone of something that she would never have.

The man, the shadow, finally moved into the moonlight revealing his form as he examined O-Mer, it was a Zabrak covered in dark robes, his face a deep red like blood covered by tattoos and in his hip shining like the moon was the silver hilt of a lightsaber.

“You are trapped” he said before shaking his head a look of sadness upon his face and Kalifa felt the regret that he felt “had I arrived later you might have listened, but you are too tightly chained by the dogma that has been fed to you since you were a baby”

“I am a Sith” the declaration almost caused Kalifa to collapse, she wanted to cry against the unfairness of it all, why would a Sith find her before the Jedi did? why couldn’t she be saved from this fate? “And I was trying to open your eyes to the truth”

“What truth?” Jinx didn’t look weary or conflicted as he looked upon the Sith, if anything he looked excited, eager to hear more and Kalifa didn’t know how to react as Jinx grew more enthusiastic “What will you teach us now?”

“A truth long buried, a path to power. Concealed by thrones and hidden by councils” he spoke with passion and authority a voice that made her want to listen “Overshadowed by a war with no true victor, I have seen a vision of the future, a galaxy in flames”

“The Jedi will tell you that to seek power is to embrace darkness, the line of Bane will tell you that power is a reward for deception, but power belongs to those who are unafraid to take it, those who are bold enough to openly wield it.” in the Sith’s hands power gathered, something like she had never seen before, it was darkness itself and blacker than the night around them.

“The Banites and the Jedi have controlled the galaxy, dishonorable tyrants, councils of fools. It’s time to break free”

The man turned and he released the power he had gathered, it came out like a hurricane, a storm unleashed without warning tearing everything in its way, in the distance the cries of the Trandoshans could be heard as the ship they had been using all this time was suddenly struck and quickly fell onto the beach.

Kalifa’s heart soared as she saw the people that had long haunted her be brought low, the hope that was nothing more than ashes in her heart ignited like a star, and finally she understood the words that were spoken in their entirety.

Power is freedom

Power is courage

And she was only stopping herself from breaking free by ignoring the cry of darkness.

Jinx moved past O-Mer stopping in front of the Sith before kneeling and looking up at him.

“Master” Jinx said reverently.

That word changed everything, O-Mer let out a horrified gasp as he saw Jinx declare his allegiance to the sworn enemy of the Jedi, Jinx had given up on the light and now walked cloaked in shadows.

O-Mer looked at Kalifa desperately, he wanted reassurance, a friend, an ally but as he looked upon her, O-Mer must have realized that her choice had been made.

Kalifa embraced the song of freedom whispered in the dark.

“You can’t do this!” O-Mer shouted at them “The Sith are evil, there is nothing but pain in the Darkside of the force”

“You are right, there is pain, but that is only a small part of it. In the darkness many things hide, rewards beyond your wildest dreams. What is a little pain in exchange for those gifts, in exchange of the ability to choose your path?”

“The way of the Sith brings nothing but death, don’t listen to him, there is still time to turn back!” O-Mer exclaimed as he tried to reach her.

“Crippled by empathy, Shackled to obedience, to their masters, to their council. You perpetuate the myth of equality. Serving the force as if it were a belief system programmed into you” Responded the man as he grew angry at O-Mer “The galaxy can’t be set into the proper course until the Jedi order and the corrupt Republic have been brought down”

In an unexpected move O-Mer grabbed the man with the force and threw him into the jungle below, the Sith laughing as he fell into the depths of the darkness below.

O-Mer followed him soon after and Jinx jumped too, for a moment Kalifa debated with herself about following them but she had made her choice and she would see it to the end.

The darkness that was once terrible and scary became comfortable and almost welcoming as she fell, with her eyes closed and following the directions of the Darkside she grabbed a vine to safely reach the ground.

Finally she arrived onto a scene that a day before would have been unthinkable, O-Mer fighting with all his strength, all his spirit, delivering powerful blows that rattled the trees as he hit them when the Sith dodged, he was a star in the force, resolute and unyielding showing a power that he never had before.

When the Sith showed us the dark he must have resisted and grown resolved to stand in the light no matter what, his conviction giving him power to stand up to the Sith. Kalifa was dazzled by the light, but she didn’t regret her choice.

O-Mer was blinded and couldn’t see that his enemy wasn’t even trying.

“The force is my ally and a powerful ally it is!” O-Mer shouted as he delivered a force push that broke down some trees behind the Sith as it hit him.

“FOOL! Success doesn’t come from summoning help from the force; but from taking control of it and summoning the power from within yourself”

One hit was all it took, one moment the Sith was being pushed back and the next he had delivered a punch so strong that O-Mer was launched through a tree by the sheer strength of it.

“My name is Darth Maul, now kneel” Kalifa and Jinx did so immediately, they were in awe at the power displayed “You live because I allow it, you are mine-servants, weapons and you will obey!”

“Now hear the words and engrave them into your memory” Maul said as he paced in front of them

“Peace is a lie, there is only passion”

The song, the screams and her own voice shouting in the dark grew in strength as Kalifa heard the words, the connection to the Darkside growing as she repeated the words in her mind.

“Through passion I gain strength”

A cry of victory could be heard as her eyes once brown started turning into a sickly yellow

“Through strength I gain power”

Her legs that once were shaking stopped and determination grew in her heart. She felt the power of the man in front of her and desired it, Kalifa wanted to be just as powerful.

“Through power I gain victory”

Kneeling as she was Kalifa looked up at the man and met his gaze and in those eyes that shined with malice approval could be seen, she would obey but she would never be a slave.

“Through victory my chains are broken, the force shall free me”

There it was, the freedom Jinx craved, the courage Kalifa longed for, the answer to the question she didn’t know she had.

“Welcome to the Brotherhood of Darkness” Maul smiled and, in the force, in the Darkside the howl of victory could be heard as it gained two new servants.

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[Dathomir, Nightsister’s Temple]

Mother Talzin

Savage had sent a message and if he were not her own son, Talzin would have immediately turned her magicks against him.

He requested a nightsister to join him, an apprentice to train in the ways of the Sith, a servant. She was tempted to ignore his request, but Savage had been extremely generous, and he had found Maul so quickly.

In the end she decided that giving him what he asked for is not a big problem, she would just have to word it carefully to the rest of the sisters, hmm, Talzin quickly got an idea and the more she thought about it the better it started to sound in her head.

Savage was technically Asajj’s mate and there was precedent for another nightsister to take the place of one that had died when the union didn’t produce a child, Talzin moved around observing the potential candidates for her child.

In the end she came to the conclusion that a less experienced sister, a younger one would be a better pair for him, he was still young and would easily live another forty years as long as no one killed him, perhaps more, the age gap wouldn’t be a problem.

Talzin had heard from the others about a teen with very high potential and while it would be a shame to not nurture it here, the potential offspring from the union would be more valuable.

Talzin waved her hand calling for one of the sisters to attend to her “What can I do for you mother?”

“Bring me young Merrin, there is something that I have to discuss with her and if you see old Daka send her my way too”

The sister hurried along looking for Merrin. Everything would be as she envisioned.

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Author note: so be honest what do you think about the third person pov, i won't get angry, i'm looking for genuine criticism, also if anyone of you can tell me how Maul got stronger in a short amount of time i will give you guys another chapter tomorrow.

it's something that's been mentioned before and while Savage and Maul haven'y had many intereactions on screen they have talked about the things Savage has learned and has stored in Dxun, in the last chapter there is a throw away line about it, i haven't put those conversations in the story because it wouldn't tell you something new, do you guys think i should write them in?

The younglings are from the clone wars series season 3 episode 21 in case you were curious.

i almost forgot i will be changing the top tier on my Patreon, instead of getting the chapters on the official day of release you will get them as soon as i write them, so you could get them a day before or a week before or more, depending on how busy i am, so if you get notified by Patreon don't be alarmed. i would also appreciate your thoughts on that.