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[Illustrated Fic] A Stirring in the Blood

Torthane

By Torthane
in Coruscant Entertainment Centre

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Torthane Newbie

Torthane

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Greetings,

 

I have a few things to say and then you can get to the story. First, I would like to note that this story will contain some violence and mild language, PG-13 stuff in other words. Second, this is my first work of fiction (that phrase always sounds so imposing) and as such any encoragement, criticisim, or advice you see fit to give will be most appreiciated. And finally, I hope you enjoy what follows!

 

Cheers,

 

Torthane

 

 

><A Stirring in the Blood><

lrjemmksfc.jpg

 

Chapter 1: Course Change

 

Carth pulled on the boost override lever and leaned back in his seat as the Hawk shuddered with the sudden increase of speed. It had been a beautiful ceremony and he couldn't remember a time in his life that he had been more happy. He had been standing there next to Revan and her face had seemed to glow. He had wanted to reach out and touch her face just to see if it was real.

 

The Ebon Hawk broke free from the gravitational pull of the planet below and the violent shaking stopped. Carth disengaged the boost and switched the ship over to ion drive. He reached over and brought up the scanner display to his right. He didn't want to jump to hyperspace and bump into any leftover chunks of the shattered starforge. The scanners reported several large clouds of debris directly ahead of the Hawk and Carth took hold of the control sticks. He eased them forward and the ship pitched downward, speeding past the scattered remains of the once mighty starforge. Carth glanced over at the scanning report screen and saw that they were in the clear.

 

Carth heard a footstep on the metal floor behind him and turned to see that Bastila had stepped into the cockpit.

He turned back to the controls and said cheerfully, “Hello Bastila. How are things with you?”

 

Bastila sat down wearily in the copilot's chair, “Things are wonderful Carth; it still astonishes me how forgiving people can be.”

 

“Believe me, none of us wanted to see you fall, and we were all overjoyed when you came back to the light.” Carth paused and then continued feigning anger, “Well, I would have been overjoyed if I wasn't paralyzed.”

 

Bastila turned to face him and there was sorrow in her eyes and her voice, “Oh Carth, will you forgive me? I hurt so many people when I fell, but none so deeply as the people on this ship.”

 

Carth chuckled, “Listen, I forgave you the moment you pulled me out of that force trance. If I was mad at all, it was because I had this nasty itch and I couldn't scratch it.”

 

Bastila smiled and was quiet for a moment, and then she asked, “Where are we bound for?”

 

“I'm not sure, it was a toss-up between Telos and Alderanne.”

 

“Strange, I would have thought that Coruscant would be the first visit,” Bastila replied as she stared out the starboard window at a gutted Republic cruiser.

 

Carth checked the scanners again, “She probably wants to go somewhere quiet. If we arrived at Coruscant it would take hours just to find a clear place to land, there would be so many people wanting to greet the saviors of the galaxy.”

 

Bastila looked down at her folded hands on her lap, “I....I shouldn't have been up there with the rest of you during the celebration. I'm no savior; in fact I would better have been called the betrayer of the galaxy.”

Carth turned to face the young Jedi, “Bastila, look at me.” She looked up and Carth continued, “The whole Republic fleet would have fallen if you hadn't inspired them to fight. The Sith would have killed them all if you hadn't used your battle meditation. The starforge would still be orbiting this planet, still churning out ships that some eager Sith would take command of to crush the Republic, a Republic with no fleet to defend itself with. Revan would have killed Malak in vain.”

 

Bastila smiled, “Thank you for your kind words Carth, but this is a matter that I will have to work through myself.

 

“All right, just make sure you do; I'm tired of hearing this self destruction hut crap.”

 

Bastila struck back with a wry smile on her lips, “Well, once your trust issues disappear, my.....” She paused. “My hut crap will vanish with it.”

 

“Trust issues? I don't have any trust issues, and what's more, only a Sith would say that about me! You could be a Sith!” Carth started to laugh and Bastila soon followed. She had a beautiful laugh that flowed from her mouth like a bubbling brook of merriment, but it almost seemed like she was unaccustomed to such emotions.

 

Mission entered the cockpit and put her hands on her hips, “What's so funny?”

 

Carth looked over at Mission while still trying to control his mirth, “Oh, uh, nothing!”

 

Mission took a few steps into the control cabin and leaned up against the navigation display, “What, was it some dirty joke? Huh? Was it? You can tell me; I'm not some little girl.”

 

Bastila rested her chin on the chair back and winked at Mission, “Oh yes, very dirty; we were talking about all kinds of unholy uses for lightsabers.”

 

“Ha, ha, I thought there was something in the Jedi code about sarcasm being the path to the darkside.”

 

“Not quite, but on the subject of paths, do you have any idea of where we are bound?” Bastila asked.

 

“No idea, but it better be some place with trees, cause I think Carth and you-know-who are going to need one to sit in while they do some S-M-O-O-C-H-I-N-G.” Mission chimed raising her eyebrows at Carth.

 

Bastila stifled another laughing fit and Carth rolled his eyes, “Well...I....maybe I should just go find some civilized male conversation.”

 

Mission folded her arms and looked up at the wire covered ceiling in disgust, “Right, civilized male conversation. Yeah, you could go talk to Candorus and HK about beheading and its many benefits for one's mental health and happiness. I took off when Big Z started talking about popping them like overripe Koko fruit. Yuck.”

 

“Well I'll go talk to Jolee then,” Carth said.

 

“Right, talk to Jolee. You can't talk to that old hermit; he talks to you. It's a one way conversation,” the Twei-lek retorted.

 

Bastila smiled at Carth, “Accept it, you're stuck with us.”

 

“Yeah? Well, I could go talk to....” Carth stopped mid sentence as Revan glided into the room. She seemed to light up the dim control cabin and Carth was sure that his mouth had fallen open. And she was wearing a dress, a glorious, flowing garment that only added to her almost unreal beauty. Carth stood up from his chair and made as if to speak but it was a moment until the words escaped his mouth and when they came they seemed so inappropriate that Carth winced the instant they had left his dry lips, “Where to captain?”

 

Revan smiled and took Carth's hand in hers, “The port dormitory.”

 

Bastila and Mission shared a significant glance as the pair walked into the hallway that led to the rest of the ship.

 

Revan turned and addressed Bastila before she left, “Bastila, would you set a course for Alderaan please?”

 

“Of course.” Bastila sat down in the pilot's seat and Mission entered in the coordinates on the nav computer.

 

Revan and Carth made their way through the ship towards the port dormitory. Moments later the were alone in the dormitory and Revan let go of Carth's hand and sat down on one of the beds.

 

Carth stood quietly waiting until Revan spoke.

 

“Carth, I have much to tell you, and much of it will be painful, both for me to speak and for you too hear.” She looked down at the floor and almost whispered, “I'm leaving.”

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Tysyacha Newbie

Tysyacha

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Fantastic fic and drawing, Torthane. Bravo! I especially liked how you

had Mission intertwined in the whole story. Although I can't imagine

Zalbaar describing his decapitations in gory detail, really. That would

be more of a Hanharr pastime, if you know what I mean! *shivers* :)

 

Your rendering of the Ebon Hawk brings back memories of the game--

good ones. I am thoroughly honored to be the first one to congratulate you! :D

 

--Tysyacha

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Torthane

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miutwybsed.jpg

 

Chapter 2: Hyperspace

 

Revan sat in silence as Carth tried to take in what she had just told him. After a few moments Carth, who was standing with his arms hanging at his sides, sat down against the wall opposite Revan and asked in a shaken voice, “Why? Why can't you stay?”

 

Revan turned her face upward and looked into Carth's eyes, “It's not that I can't stay as much as I have to leave. There is a darkness waiting on the edges of known space. It is growing, swelling, readying for an assault on the galaxy that will make the last ten Sith wars seem like cantina brawls. Carth, you know war, you've seen terrible things in your lifetime, but nothing you have ever known will compare to what is to come if I don't leave to face it. Entire planets will burn never to support life again, the weak will be devoured by the strong because there will be no food. They are comeing to destroy all life, I've seen the visions; first they will come in twos and threes to corrupt, to consume, and to crush. The Jedi will fall before these emissaries like fortresses of sand before a mighty tide. The Jedi will all die, all force sensitives will die, and then the walls of the dam will break and all life will die.” She took a deep breath and looked back down at her feet and said quietly, “That is why I have to leave.”

 

Carth walked over to the bed and sat down next to Revan. She laid her head on his chest and he put his arms around her. He kissed the beautiful, long, dark hair that covered her head and spoke softly to her, “In our travels together you were never afraid, you were never worried. To be honest it was rough on me because I was. I was always worrying about one thing or another and you were always so sure of yourself. It made me rather resentful of you at times, but now with this new threat you speak of you are afraid and I am not. I'm sure that if I had seen what you have seen I would be writhing around on the floor in terror, but I haven't. I doubt I can be much of a help in this war to come, but I can hold you, and maybe, just maybe that will give you something you need.”

 

She closed her shining eyes and whispered, “It does, oh Force it does.”

 

 

 

Bastila got up from the pilot's seat and walked into the central room of the Ebon Hawk. T-3 was working away on the holographic display that dominated the center of the room and Juhani was sitting against one of the walls reading a datapad. It was strange, but Bastila had noticed that the Cathar never sat on chairs; she always chose to sit on the floor or to stand. Another oddity was that Mission and Jolee were nowhere to be seen; they usually spent most of their time in the main hold. She couldn't see Zalbarr either which was quite strange seeing as he was so large. Bastila walked over to Juhani and asked, “Where is everyone?”

 

Juhani looked up from her datapad, “I have not seen where they went. Why do you ask?”

 

“I intended to tell them of our destination.”

 

“And that is?”

 

Bastila rubbed a long saber burn on her forearm, “Alderaan.”

 

Juhani looked back down at her datapad, “I see, I have not seen Mission since she entered the cockpit, she may be in the communications room.”

 

“I'll go take a look,” Bastila said going back into the hallway that led to the control cabin.

 

A few steps down the passageway Bastila peered into the communications room to see Mission leaning over one of the displays. Bastila stepped quietly into the room and heard Mission exclaim, “Aw, that's so sweet!” The Twie-lek was looking at the display for the port dormitory's security camera.

 

“You shouldn't be doing that Mission.” Mission spun around at the sound of Bastila's voice.

 

She clasped her hands behind herself and pretended to be innocent, “Doing what?”

 

Bastila walked over to the display and switched it off, “You shouldn't watch them.”

 

Mission blushed, “Its not like they were doing anything, Carth was just holding Revan, and she was actually crying. Can you believe that? She was crying!”

 

“Would you go find Zalbarr and tell him that we are headed for Alderaan?”

 

“Sure.” Mission left the room and Bastila was about to follow her when she turned to the security display and switched it on. She gazed at the screen for a moment and then switched it off again; Revan was crying.

 

Bastila walked through the main hold and past the medical room. She took a left turn and entered the garage and leaned up against the doorway to observe the situation. Candorus and HK-47 were standing next to each other with their blasters raised.

 

The Mandalorien counted down from three and they both proceeded to release the energy clips in their weapons. They then reached for their spare clips and jammed them into the loading wells on their guns. Candorus finished reloading just before the assassin droid had gotten the clip into his rifle.

 

Candorus threw his arms up in the air and shouted triumphantly, “Ha! That proves it! I can reload faster than a mere droid!”

 

“Indignant excuse: That proves nothing. Even the most uneducated meatbag knows that a heavy blaster rearms faster than a disruptor, but if you label me as a 'mere droid' again I will prove to you that the disruptor is much more effective at tearing through meatbag flesh.” HK glared at Candorus. “Unnecessary addendum with threats of violence implied: That would be your meatbag flesh.”

 

Candorus noticed that Bastila had entered the garage and growled, “Hey, looking for something, princess?”

 

“No, just waiting for you two to stop arguing so I could inform you that we are on course for Alderaan.”

 

The mercenary sat down on a crate and made a face, “Alderaan, huh? Not my kind of place.”

 

“I rather doubt you have a 'kind of place',” Bastila said as she left for the starboard dormitory.

 

She knocked on the closed door and a moment later she heard Jolee grumbling, “Do you have a good reason for waking a tired old man up? Because that's what I am.”

 

Bastila spoke through the closed door, “Jolee, we are on our way to Alderaan. I thought you might have wished to know.”

 

“Wonderful, thank you for waking me up to tell me something I would have found out soon enough anyway. Goodnight.”

 

“No wonder he was a hermit,” Bastila muttered to herself as she walked back towards the main hold.

 

Mission was fiddling with the controls for the holographic display in the center of the hold when Bastila walked in, “Stupid thing doesn't get any entertainment stations.” There was a beeping noise and Mission looked down at the control panel, “Oops, I think I just...no wait....” She looked up at Bastila and said, “We've got a transmission from some guy called 'Nagal'.”

 

Bastila stepped over to the display, “Senator Nagal, Alderanne.” Bastila pushed the receive button, “Let's see what he has to say.”

 

Juhani stood up and walked over to the holograph as the device flickered to life. Seconds later the transparent blue form of the senator appeared on the display. He was a tall blonde haired man with a long face that looked sleep deprived.

 

Bastila dipped her head, “Senator, it's a pleasure.”

 

Nagal bowed back, “Mistress Shan. Believe me, the pleasure is mine; I send a message and I'm greeted by three beautiful women. Well, the purpose of this message is to invite all of you for a little party on my personal yacht. Would Revan be interested in such a proposition?”

 

Bastila glanced over at the hallway to the port dormitory, “She is busy at the moment, but I'm sure she would be very happy to accept your invitation, Senator.”

 

Nagal smiled, “Splendid! I will look forward to your arrival then. Farewell.”

 

“Farewell.” Bastila switched off the display and turned to see Mission was looking at her with that mischievous gleam in her eyes.

 

“Mistress Shan, eh?” Mission said, her voice sticky with implied meanings.

 

“It's a sign of respect, which is no doubt why you are unfamiliar with the title.” Bastila replied.

 

Mission scowled and marched off. As soon as she was gone Juhani turned to Bastila and said in a low voice, “I felt the Senator acted strange, nervous.”

 

Bastila stared at the wall across the room and replied, “I felt it too, he's worried. I sense that no good will come of this.”

 

 

Carth ran a finger up Revan's cheek wiping a tear from her white skin, “I don't want to remember you like this. I want you to be happy, I want to see you smile again.”

 

Revan closed her eyes and bit her lip, He doesn't know, and I can't bring myself to tell him. Not yet.

 

“Isn't there anything I can do to make you smile?” Carth asked.

 

She turned her head to face him, “Tell me that you love me and that you always will. No matter what happens.”

 

He kissed her tear stained cheek and said, “I will always love you and I will never leave you again. I want to marry you.”

 

Revan was sure that she was going begin weeping again but something held back the tears. A feeling that she would survive the comeing war spread through her mind and she kissed Carth's lips.

 

It was not a long sloppy kiss like she had seen in the holoshows when she was a child but it was pure and sweet. A kiss of real love not of romantic passion. A kiss that left her not wishing for more but rather it made her feel wonderfully whole inside.

 

She beamed at Carth, “Let's just forget about war for awhile. We are on our way to the most beautiful planet in the galaxy and I think I can afford to delay my departure for at least a month.”

 

Carth grinned back, “Well that settles it then! We'll get married, spend a nice long honeymoon on Alderaan, and then we can go off to fight this new threat to the galaxy.”

 

Revan stood up from the bed and said with a touch of sadness in her voice, “Yes, we'll do that.”

 

“Alright then! Let's go see if we are nearing Alderaan,” Carth said standing up and putting his arm around Revan's waist. She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder as they walked towards the main hold.

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Torthane Newbie

Torthane

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Thank you to everyone for the feedback! It's a great encouragement, and thank you Jae for pointing out the spelling error; I will fix that. It will probably be a few days before I post the next chapter.

 

PS: Does anyone know where to get a bunch of kotor pics? I need reference images of Mission, Juhani, Jolee, and the others.

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Tysyacha Newbie

Tysyacha

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Torthane, I could feel Revan's pain at having to separate from the one she loved.

It felt so real that I almost cried with her. Maybe it's the moon up to his old

tricks again, but I rather think it's the tenderness of the writing and the

gentle lushness of the drawing you presented with it. Brava, my art idol!

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Torthane Newbie

Torthane

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Torthane, I could feel Revan's pain at having to separate from the one she loved.

It felt so real that I almost cried with her. Maybe it's the moon up to his old

tricks again, but I rather think it's the tenderness of the writing and the

gentle lushness of the drawing you presented with it. Brava, my art idol!

 

You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that. I always worried about being able to do a love scene justice, but reading your comment fullfills the hope that someone else would be able to feel what I felt when I wrote it. Thank you.

 

I had a big paper to write for school but it is done now so I can get back to work on this. I hope to have the next chapter up before the week is over. Thank you all for reading it and leaving feedback! If I get the chance I will try to return the kindness and read some of your work.

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Torthane Newbie

Torthane

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Perhaps Torthane is drawing a picture for the next Chapter...

 

You must be force sensitive Pottsie! I am in fact drawing a pic for the next chapter and it's proving difficult. If you are bored though you can go check out my latest work (not star wars related) here: http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?p=2201452#post2201452

 

I'll try to get the next picture done as soon as I can.

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Diego Varen Newbie

Diego Varen

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You must be force sensitive Pottsie! I am in fact drawing a pic for the next chapter and it's proving difficult. If you are bored though you can go check out my latest work (not star wars related) here: http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?p=2201452#post2201452

 

I'll try to get the next picture done as soon as I can.

 

Wow, I'm Force Sensitive now! Looking foward to the future Chapter.

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