[fic] Knights of the Old Republic III: The Force Entirety

[Burnseyy]

Knights Of The Old Republic III: The Force Entirety

Chapter One:

Malastare Part One.

 

I always adored how the mountains of Malastare seemed to ‘buzz’ in the morning, just seconds before the sun inched over their horizons. They looked so beautiful and fair, I sometimes believed they were not real, but to my utter delight, some place in my subconscious, I knew they were real. And they were, just there, standing proudly, just miles from my home. Though, I had never ventured up them, as their steepness, their dangerous heights - they were enough to kill even the strongest, most vital creatures in the Mid Rim. Well… they had all tried, and who could blame them? Being able to say you conquered such magnificent, dignified mountains would earn you the greatest respect… Or at least, very high respect. I just prayed one day, I would be able to witness staring off of the peek of these Malastare mountains. Until then, my dreams were what kept me hoping.

 

A light breeze had stunned the land, and almost as if perfect timing to my musings, the sun squeezed itself between the Mountain Range that I looked on, eradicating that mystical ‘buzz’ I loved, so much, and brought a radiance so true and pronounced, that I barely remembered the quiet ’buzz’ before hand. Ah, it did not matter what time of day, or what mood I was in that day - this sight was what kept me optimistic and hopeful… and we all needed that, during these times.

 

“Aquarius?” I heard my name being called. I pulled myself from the windowsill in my bedroom, and peered towards my slightly ajar door.

 

“Yes, Aaron?” I shouted back down, to the source of speech. Aaron was my brother, five years older, and had fought in many battles I hadn’t even come to know until recently. But that was to be expected… Wars raged in these galaxies more than snow hit the floor in Burska.

 

“I was going to go out to get parts for B4-D3, but she’s going crazy, so I’m going to stay home. D’you fancy going out instead?” Aaron enquired, as he shouted back up - I don’t think Aaron and I ever spoke face to face. I was too absorbed in my own thoughts and he was too absorbed in his latest ’pass-time’, Esmeralda - his Zeltron girlfriend. Pfft… If only he knew what kind of slapper she was! But I suppose men like sluts.

 

I sighed, not wanting to distract myself from my morning sight-seeing routine, and replied: “…Fine. I’ll get going now. Give us some credits.”

 

“Great! Thanks sis!”

 

I wrenched myself up, lazily pulled my boots on , ambled towards my Ewe carved door, pulling it open and ambled, again, down the stairs to my brother. My first sight was B4-D3 whizzing around in circles and reversing, then accelerating, then reversing, then accelerating, as it screamed: “dwooo! Dweet! Dooo-deee-dooo!” Aaron was right - she was in need of repair.

 

Aaron was lounged across the couch, playing a game of Pazaak with his beloved Zeltron, who, coming to think of it, I didn’t even know was here… So I see, this is why he did not want to get parts for B4-D3; sure I suppose the droid is insane, but it’s probably because she had to endure the displays of ‘love’ - or rather lust - from these two.

 

Gosh, I wanted to slap Aaron, sometimes. But I guess enduring was the way. Either that, or you’re a Sith… And I was no Sith. Though, I wish sometimes that I did command the Force. The possibilities that would enrol out before me; the people I could command. I might even be able to get that Grade 3 in my Music Class, but no. I was just an ordinary Human who lived on a planet which wasn’t even meant for our kind; but ah well, their immigrant rules had softened, so we took advantage. You can’t really complain, to be fair. The dugs could, because it was their planet, they’d even been known to kill some of the Nexu, Humans and Gran, but the rule still remained - ‘Any murder of any form of race on this planet will result in the consequence of sentencing upon the murderer’. Don’t ask how I memorised that rule - I even knew it in the other languages!

 

That was one thing my family never understood - my phenomenal wide ranged knowledge of languages. It had come from nowhere - a natural gift, as you’d call it.

 

However, thoughts aside. I took the credits from Aaron, who had his slender arm around Esmeralda, whilst her leg was smack bang between his, and I exited the house as quick as possible, refusing to turn back to the two, and see what they got up to with my head turned. I knew what they did - there was no need to have my eyes scarred, along with my mind, though.

 

I scurried up the path, away from my house, with the credits in my robe pockets. I could still see the mountains, from this perspective, just not as well as from my bedroom window. I would have let myself get lost in it’s brilliance, but it had been too far interrupted by Aaron, for me to return to the same serenity as before. I glanced about at my surroundings - we lived in a village, just yards from the central City, and I loved it. There were small, cute cottages, all tightly packed together with small gardens and beautifully foreign plants, growing in them, of all different colours and shades. The footpath was more of a mud track, which definitely brought in more natural feel to the area, and I guess that’s what I loved about where I lived - I simply adored nature.

 

My mother and father had always told me that this love came from when I was a child, because I went through things that they would tell me when I became of age. Well, I’m nineteen now, and my parents have… passed away. I never found out what happened to me as a child, and I suppose it was strange, not knowing, but I had little care for my past. I focused on the ‘now’.

 

I could see the Parts shop coming closer, as I strode up the footpath, the credits jumping in my pocket. The ground was a golden colour, as result of the sunrise, but the sky was still pitch black. It was strange how this happened, it only occurred once a year. But it was still magical, however much it made me shiver. This was one side of Malastare’s nature that creeped me out.

 

I reached the Parts shop, but before I managed to step indoors, I heard shouts coming from the alleyway, beside it. The shouts got louder, angrier, and then I heard a cry - a desperate cry. My senses buzzed with fear, excitement, nervousness and fear, again, all at the same time. My heart pumped, loudly and viciously. A weapon was definitely in the picture, here; I could hear the clangs. I blinked, too scared to check whether it was a Dug attacking another Human, or whether it was just two people playing Sith and Jedi with a stick.

 

“Come on, Aquarius,” I whispered to myself, “Just look. Someone could be in serious danger.” Yet I did not move, and the cries grew louder, and more desperate. I didn‘t want to look a fool, but I didn‘t want to die, or get hurt. I‘d left my brother at home, thinking I was fine, and if I did this I could seriously hurt myself. I could end up like my parents… And Aaron would be alone.

 

“**** sake! It could be nothing, just go!”

 

I miraculously flung myself into the alleyway, where I saw two black-clad men, with Forcepikes, stabbing at an innocent, whom was sprawled across the floor. He was drenched in his own blood. Oh god, I thought. It didn’t strike me that I had no protection, nor any weapons to protect myself, but I ran at them, screaming “Go away! Go away! There are Police coming! They’re on their way!” Of course this was a lie.

 

My legs felt like they were going to explode from the nerves, whilst my head felt like it was going to start flying towards space, due to the lack of oxygen reaching my brain. I felt faint, and yet full of energy, simultaneously. The two attackers stared at me, one was in his ‘battle-ready’ position, the Forcepike pointing threateningly towards me. I could just see it piercing my stomach, any second now. But I couldn’t run.

 

“**** off! **** off! The Authorities are on their way! They know you’re here!” I screamed, feeling myself going red in the face. It would be useful if the Authorities did show up. That would be lovely, round about now.

 

To my greatest astonishment, the two attackers flitted down the opposite side of the alleyway, jumped onto a cottage roof and vanished, almost like they had become floating puddles. I was amazed, but I had no time to stare on after them, like I did the sun - I sprinted as fast as my feet would carry me, over to the man on the ground. He looked to be about my age - perhaps a little older. He was coughing, spluttering up blood, but I saw no serious wounds on his torso, not head, so I presumed he was in no immediate danger of dying. I hastily picked him up, ignoring his shouts of pain, and rose him to his feet, placing my arm under and around his, as I held the other arm in my grip. This wasn’t exactly the ‘trip to the Parts shop’ I’d expected.

 

I tried to move, but he wrenched himself downwards, like a stubborn toddler, refusing to part from his bed. But the thing was, I knew that, if I didn’t force him to move, no matter how painful on his behalf, he would bleed to death, and I could never forgive myself for that - plus the First Aid department would never be here in time to save him, before it got critical. The nearest department was on the other side of the city.

 

He screamed once more, battling with my hold, but his ‘battling’ was weak, so I harshly threw him forward, still holding onto him, to cause him minor pain. He screamed once more. “Let - go… go - of - m-me…” He stuttered and slurred. The man’s eyes were shut, and they occasionally opened a tad, to reveal a pair of rolled back, white eyes. The sight was emotionally scarring, least of all the stench of his quickly rotting blood. What was with this guy?

 

“Listen, you can cooperate and we’ll be any cottage in no time,” I shouted at him, desperately. “And you can rest there.” I added, to sooth him. “or you can struggle and die a slow, very painful death on in a dirty alleyway. Your ****ing choice!”

 

~

 

He chose the cottage.

 

He lay on the couch, where my brother, Aaron and his girlfriend had lounged just minutes earlier. No one could explain the sight my eyes had to endure when I barged through the door, in on Aaron and Esmeralda. Let’s just say, the clothes they wore now, were not on their bodies, before. Such desperate people.

 

“Who the hell is this guy, Aqua?” Aaron asked, bewildered, and obviously flustered from having to run so fast into hiding, earlier. “Your boyfriend?” A stupid question. “Why’s he like… pale green? Why’s he like bleeding all over my couch? What the **** Aquarius?!”

 

“Shut up, Aaron!” I exclaimed, angered. I was thinking fast, what could I do to help him stop bleeding? Our home wasn’t exactly the greatest of medical facilities. “Aaron, will you get the first aid kit, quick?” I asked, and my brother was away, instantaneously, Esmeralda plodding on behind him, like the slut she was. Sith’s blood.

 

He was back within a matter of seconds, and I took the kit straight from his grasp, kneeling besides the injured man on our couch. I examined the objects inside the box - bandages, stitches, wound acid, water---

 

Wound acid!

 

Hastily, I took the wound acid from the first aid kit box, and began shaking the drops of acid onto every possible cut I could see on the man. I could hear the ‘tsssss’ sounds as it touches his skin, drying the blood and killing the cells around his cuts. I pulled his clothes off, leaving him half-naked in his underwear, and tended to injuries that were, before, underneath his clothes. He was writhing in pain, his muscles tensed, as the acid went to work, stinging the gashes away. But at least he was healing. I was relieved.

 

Once I was certain the wound acid had completed it’s task, I took bandages out of the kit, and began covering his most fatal, largest wounds, making them tight so that they would do their job, properly. I was no Healer, but I thought I’d done a mighty fine job of it. At least he wouldn’t die now.

 

“It your half naked buddy okay, now?” Aaron asked. He definitely knew how to ask stupid questions… Now I finally knew what he talked like - our first mutual conversation, and it was about a half dead guy I’d found being sliced blocks out of, on the street. What a joy.

 

“Yeah, he should be fine. He just needs rest now,” I replied, keeping as calm as I could. “It’s a good thing we still had this wound acid. I thought you’d have drank it all, by now, knowing you…”

 

“Excuse me, sis’, but I’m no acid drinker. Maybe Esmeralda is, but I’m certainly not!” Aaron said, laughing. Little did he know, his jokes were simply terrible.

 

Esmeralda slapped him across the face. “Shush, boy.” She stated, simply, glaring mercilessly into his brown eyes.

 

“He’ll need rest, c’mon, let’s leave him to sleep in quiet,” I told Aaron and his Zeltron, and I guess I was right - I hated it when people spoke when I was trying to sleep, nevermind recover from stab wounds.

 

“Alright, but only because I put mucho effort into finding that first aid kit,” my brother muttered, placing his arm, once more, around Esmeralda’s waist - ahem - arse. The two of them scurried off into their bedroom, to do god knows what, and left me in absolute silence with the poor victim.

 

I wanted to speak to him, ask him his name, ask why he was in the alleyway, ask who was attacking him… Ask if he was okay. However, patience was an ultimate virtue in the situation, and my bedside, windowsill view of the mountains was calling me. Malastare had it’s beauties, but it also had it’s beasts, and I had the feeling that this was only the beginning of it’s disadvantages.

 

 

End of Malastare part one.