บท 148: V.2-C.49│Trouble III│
Heading further up the temple, from within, Anakin was approaching the topmost part of this sacrificial temple.
The Grand Audience Chamber was humongous, gigantic in frame proportionate to Anakin who has been commented on for his larger than normal height. The Great Temple itself was definitely taller than him, but this tip of the temple in particular was especially tall.
Taller than all of the other levels he had explored to find the crystals, and now that he has one there is but one more place to check.
The view from this area is quite good, but Anakin doesn't have time to see all of that but instead wants to head further up.
If he had stopped to look, it would have exposed the luscious moons, habitable atmosphere and the trees that were a part of its forests. None of them could quite compare to the temples stature and height, but alot of those trees were also quite tall in on themselves.
At the tippity top of this pyramid like temple, there was no point and instead there was a room. A small room that also overlooked everything and it was exactly at the center of this room, the very thing Anakin was looking for.
The second half of what he was searching for, in fact.
The Heart of the Guardian.
He didn't question how this has gotten here, and why it was here because there is no need for him to know but it would certainly be interesting to see the tale of how it happened to appear in this place. It wasn't exactly the resting place of Revan, or one of the area he was killed, died or otherwise reunited and became one with the Force.
When placed within a lightsaber, it altered the properties of other crystals that the lightsaber carried in a positive way; this crystal created a fast yet devastating blade that was perfect for lightsaber combat.
It is believed that the Heart was involved in the founding of the Jedi Order. According to prophecies of the Order, the Heart would appear at the time of greatest turmoil and help in bringing the galaxy into salvation. However, the Sith also believed it to be an object of their heritage, which in turn would have brought about their domination of known space.
While the Mantle of the Force would give off a blue hue, the Heart of the Guardian would give off the orange or bronze coloring.
At first, Anakin had considered that maybe he should give these crystals over to Ahsoka, especially so because it fit her color scheme. Orange and blue along with her own orange and blue coloring, it would of certainly been funny.
Of course, he retracted that decision as despite the look it would have given and despite her power within the Force, he could make much better use out of these crystals.
'Now I need to go.' It wouldn't be long now, for Anakin to reach his first target and while he can sense through the bond, both Barriss and Shaak he heads towards Shaak first.
The reason being he can see what is happening, she is having some fun with Ventress, in particular she is being used as a tool to train herself. Well, it wasn't just Shaak that was getting some valuable experience out of this encounter as Ventress was also learning, improving and pulling on the dark side of the Force to better empower herself.
Anakin started using the Force to make himself fly through the air, and the distance between himself and Shaak wasn't all too much but it was far enough away that it warranted him using flight.
Running there would have been more of a hassle and taken up too much time, which he could use better to convince Ventress to go back to her tribe.
She would of course hate those from her tribe, from the Nightsisters on Dathomir, especially Talzin but Anakin didn't care all that much. In fact from what he understands is that she was taken from them or given away from a very young age.
Ventress was taken as a slave to Rattatak and trained as a Jedi Padawan by Jedi Knight Ky Narec, after all. Or, at least, this is from how he remembers it and from the information he has gained from Grievous, in combination of his own previous life's knowledge and using the Force.
'I am coming, try not to kill her.' Anakin sent a message through the bond to Shaak, knowing that it may affect her in some way.
Utilizing the bond was dangerous, well not actually dangerous but it did have its side effects, meaning it would deepen the emotions or feelings they have for each other. A reason he doesn't use it often with those connected to him, if they aren't already within a romantic relationship.
There was no response from Shaak because she was still trying her hardest to defy loving Anakin and being connected to him through the Dyad.
[]
While Anakin is on his way, Shaak and Ventress are engaged in quite the duel.
"What are you doing? Come at me!" Ventress called out as she tried to aggressively attack Shaak, but she was not hailed as a lightsaber combat master for nothing.
There was no way, Ventress would be able to defeat Shaak through the use of her lightsabers and combat training, even with all of the time she has had to hone these skills in particular. No, she would have to start relying on the Force more and more, which is something she is not against.
"Calm down. I am not your enemy." Shaak was now regretting taunting her, Anakin didn't know that the information he had supplied Shaak was used in that way, but he would find out once he got here.
Shaak, even though not as brain-washed by the Jedi, still had a subconscious dislike for those that practiced the use of the dark side. It was one of the reasons, even when she agreed with Anakin, she used to not embrace her developed feelings, while the others already have.
She still had quite a while to go before she was capable of becoming or embracing these things and this may be that chance. A chance to see past her own biases and lower her dislike for all things related to the dark side.
She didn't just leave the Order because she wanted to go with Anakin and had her own reasons as well, that were indirectly pointed out to her by Anakin. That however is besides the point.
"Shut up! I will defeat you and destroy you, and as you fall, I will rise!" Ventress called back out as she gave a rather vicious Force push that enabled her to create some distance between the two.
Shaak Ti, like most Jedi of the era, was discovered on her homeworld Shili as an infant when doctors identified her as Force-sensitive. Taken to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Ti entered into the academy there and spent the next decade studying the ways of the Force and the Jedi Code.
After being promoted as a Jedi Knight by the Jedi High Council, pursued the path of the Jedi Consular, strengthening her connection to the Force and working under the Council of Reconciliation.
She was also allowed to go back to her homeworld, and connect with her roots. Undergoing a traditional Togrutan right of passage, Ti tracked and killed a wild Akul beast and crafted an elegant headdress from its teeth.
Shaak had some regrets, regrets which included her first student, of whom had died.
During her early career Ti took her first student, choosing to train him on her birth planet, Shili. Amongst the vast, dry scrublands Ti taught her student the ways of the Jedi, eventually raising him to Knighthood. Parting ways, it wasn't long before Shaak Ti got word that he had been killed by a criminal on one of his first missions.
Having failed her first student, Ti decided to try again when she chose the Initiate Fe Sun as her second apprentice.
However, instead of having the same fate, it was Anakin that had changed that. Shaak was drawn to him and in all the more irony, he was something, someone that was not like her.
Not isolated and it took some effort, but she was able to become more social, not that she wanted to but it gave her a better understanding of people. Who would have thought that training someone like she had would get them killed, but she had the passion to continue, and if it wasn't for Anakin, she was sure her second student would die as well.
"Please, the dark side is not the path you should take. Especially considering what you are doing..." Shaak tried to make Ventress see reason, but she wasn't having any of it and she feared she may only worsen the situation.
Shaak is a very cunning person, but that mainly applied to combat situations, not diplomatic in nature because she hadn't the mind for it. Not that she didn't have the potential but because of the way she is, that is just the way it has to be.
"You dont know me! You dont know what path I have taken and how far it has gotten me!" Ventress replied, all so calmly as she again tried to strike Shaak down, only to be unsuccessful.
Shaak was just to cunning, as it could be seen within her movements. Her style or approach to any situation including this one was portrayed in her movements, and given the few years she has had of proper social interactions, she understands more.
It probably helped Anakin allowed for whatever awkwardness she had, in terms of trying to be flirty or otherwise. She realizes what she had said back when he was younger was probably wrong to say to a child, but he didn't feel like one, nor did he look like one either.
"There is a better way to do this." Shaak was slowly trying to draw Ventress away from the area she was at.
They had come to a peak of a temple, and below that temple was a very large drop that looked like some sort of ravine.
"If you would just calm down, I am sure that we can talk about this. Someone is coming that will help you." Shaak said this because she knew she couldn't help this situation but she is also unsure of how Anakin would deal with this matter.
He did however seem to know alot about her.
The two would be locked in a short duel that would only last around a minute before Anakin arrived from the sky.
"Well... This is not what I was expecting." Anakin said as he looked at the two ladies, soaked in the rain because it had been starting to rain.
While he may have had a nice view, particularly looking towards Shaak as the fight, while controlled was still quite messy and allowed for some of her clothing to become destroyed in a manner that allowed Anakin to see some of her more precious assets. Ventress was in the same state but she cared less about her current state and more about what or who Anakin was.
"Who are you!?" Ventress called out as she was at the precipice of a ledge leading into some depths.
"Allow me to introduce myself..." Anakin did a bow and then straightened himself again. "I am Anakin, Anakin Skywalker."
"You? Are you not the current Emperor of the Empyrean?" Ventress calmed down a bit because she had gotten confused.
"About that..." Anakin would then go on to speak with the woman and describe to her some events and why exactly he was looking for her. To bring her back and reintroduce her back to her roots, her homeworld of Dathomir, but she wasn't having any of it.
She didn't want to go back, especially since she considered herself unwanted.
Anakin wouldn't be able to convince her and this whole thing was for naught. Ventress wouldn't be going back to Dathomir to rejoin with her people and Anakin wouldn't be taking her as his wife. Either way he knew, that within the Force, it isn't meant to be.
At this point a bond probably would have formed between the two.
"Catch me, if you can." Ventress jumped off of the cliff, similar to how the duel on Yavin 4 went down between her and the original.
This time, however, she had done so herself.
[]
After that entire debacle, Anakin moved towards Shaak.
He could see she was exhausted as she was not only holding off Ventress but just before her she was fighting those mantis like creatures, known as the klikniks.
Anakin held her and she leaned into him, not caring for what she was portraying or how she might be seen as weak. "I am a bit tired, can we take a rest?" She could hear the beating of his hearts, the four knocks it signified telling her, reminding her about what he is willing to do.
"Sure, Barriss doesn't need our assistance at this moment." Anakin didn't mind Shaak being selfish in this instance and allowed it.
"You know, I love you, right?" Shaak all of a sudden said.
"I know. I have always known. You aren't as good as you think you are at hiding from me or the Dyad between us." Anakin replied.
"Of course you do." She rolled her eyes as she once again was exposed to Anakin's know it all capabilities, whether he actually did or not, it didn't matter. What mattered is now she felt ready to speak about her feelings for him.
"You know, I love you as well." Anakin said as she was slowly starting to regain her breath thanks to Anakin as he was using a variation of Force healing, as instead he was rejuvenating her stamina rather than her vitality.
"I think we should go now." Shaak separated from him, reluctantly but she could cuddle him some more later.
"You feel good enough?" Anakin questioned
"Yeah, lets go help out Barriss and whatever trouble she has gotten herself into." Shaak said before asking two more questions. "By the way, did you get your crystals, and does this make me your official fourth wife?"
"To answer both, yes. I guess it does make you mine." Anakin stated.
"Yours? I am fine with that." Before they left however, Anakin felt it prudent to make sure she knows of his feelings through his actions. He kissed her on the lips, and didn't avoid going fully in there because he didn't have to worry about her predator-like teeth.
He has too many protections against such basic sharp teeth and he didn't fear being cut or hurt in any way.
After it finished, she couldn't help but be flustered as he started to fly with her into the other direction. He carried her just as he did with Ahsoka, like a princess of course and went towards Barriss.
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