Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2150503" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 189: News by MoonlightTruthfully, the reason for the challenge in understanding all of the information that the ancient computer gave was simple. There were gaps. A huge amount of gaps. What was there was mostly things that Akan had known from what Shadow had said about legends and stories. The Sith and the Darkwing Wars, a group of Jedi arriving and ending the war and driving back the Sith. Now he knew, though, what happened to those Jedi. They did not simply go back. They stayed. The outpost was proof of it, and apparently, there were many, many others throughout the Alraxian Empire...and maybe even in the bordering Mrrakesh worlds.    Why the Jedi stayed behind, and even how many did, was one of the gaps. What exactly the Jedi did to end the Darkwing Wars was also broken into pieces. From reports of some of the battles, there had to have been at least two million Sith warriors, not including the Darkwings they had created. How was such a large number stopped when, according to the data, the rest of the Great Hyperspace War, as it was labeled, was being fought on the exact opposite side of the galaxy? How had the Jedi even found the place? How had the Sith? And then there were other things...    Things that got Akan’s attention much more than just the history. Short passages dealing with ‘adapting the species to their new environment’, ‘implications of the species’ genetic similarities’, and even many sections on ‘the true nature of the Force’. The latter all echoed what Shadow had taught him, and what Akan had come to learn was what the Alraxians as a whole believed. No Dark Side and no Light Side. Just the Force. It is the individual that is the darkness or the light. This was not anything new to the Jedi Order, from what Akan had learned...but he couldn’t believe that a group of Jedi Knights so very long ago would have developed the ideas to the point that they were embraced by the Alraxians.    And that just led to what was really bothering him. The connection between the Jedi and the Alraxians. It was something much, much more than just the Jedi ending the Darkwing Wars. It had to be. If it wasn’t, then the Alraxians wouldn’t be using a Jedi symbol for their Empress’ insignia. They wouldn’t have a lightsaber as the Empress’ weapon. He also wouldn’t be hearing the word ‘Jedi’ in the midst of them speaking in Alraxian while they gave him sideways looks. There were no Jedi alive anymore in the Empire, that he was sure of. Yet he didn’t know how long it had been. Perhaps there had been Jedi around for thousands of years...but no, even with a heretical idea like the one the Alraxians believed, the society would have more influences of it. But they were all just simple little things that hinted more than told. Just like the records in the computer.    But then the computer mentioned something else. It said that the Jendari were very close with the ancient Jedi, and were the keepers of the Jedi’s relics and records. The Jendari, essentially, ran a small Jedi Library in the Alraxian Empire. Or at least, twenty thousand years ago they did. But it was still something that caught his interest. Shadow had once told him that the Jendari were the Alraxian’s closest allies. She spoke of them as wise, and a species that had lived in this part of the galaxy long enough to have seen the birth of both the Alraxians and the Mrrakesh. They were old when the Sith arrived. And that meant that they had to know something.For four hours, they listened to the computer. Night had fallen at least an hour earlier, but with the light that was coming in, it felt more like dusk. Akan took no notice of this. Partially because he had no idea what to expect even after days on the planet, but mostly because he was trying to rewire the computer to fill the gaps in the history and information. Shadow had tried to help, but he was being a little crazy about it and kept her away.    With a sigh, she turned and started to walk towards the stairs to leave, saying over her shoulder, “Come on, we should go...people will probably be worrying now.”    Then she caught sight of something outside the ruined wall. The sky was way too bright. Alraxia’s star should have set long ago. Sure, one of the moons would provide a little light...but not this much. Slowly, she walked over to the edge of the room and looked outside. She couldn’t help a slight gasp at what she saw. All three of Alraxia’s moons hung in different positions in the sky, and all of them were full. Very slowly, Shadow called back, “A-Akan...you should come and see this...”    Though he had passed her off the first time, Akan noticed the change in tone of her voice and turned to see her staring blankly up and out into the sky. He got up and walked over next to her, looking up and his eyes widening in surprise. It wasn’t just how bright they were, but the brilliant colours. One of the moons was a simple grey colour, boring but still radiant. Another looked like a tiny version of Alraxia, blue and green in the blackness. The third was a completely ice blue colour, and was actually hard to look at considering the brightness of it.    Shadow watched him for a moment then heard a noise. It was soft, and she was almost surprised when she didn’t jump and try to kill something. Instead, she looked around, saying quietly, “I think there’s something...”     And then Shadow trailed off upon seeing the source of the sound. From the wall next to them, a lizard about the size of Shadow’s hand worked its way into the moon light. She grinned slightly and looked back up again, “Heh...even the lizard came out to see.”    When he didn’t seem to be responding at all, Shadow turned to glance at him to make sure he was still breathing. He was still there, staring up at the moons, and instead of saying anything, Shadow found herself somewhat lost for words. It was kind of strange...his white hair was a silvery colour from the moonlight, and the blue stripe was gleaming.    She stared for a moment before looking away, embarrassed with herself for thinking it. Though it was true...he did look good.Akan had been pretty much lost in his own thought, though whatever those thoughts were, even he wasn’t sure. It was just...amazing. He’d seen hundreds of planets and countless more full moons, but nothing ever like this. Suddenly, he realized she’d said something, “Oh! Oh...yes...lizard...yes...”    Trailing off lamely, Akan couldn’t help but feel even more foolish. He couldn’t even figure out completely why...well, no, he had an idea...no, no. But...well...maybe it was the way...the way she was looking at him. It was unnerving. So much so that, for a moment, it felt as if the entire galaxy was staring at him and screaming at him to do something.  Knowing his luck, it probably was. Just do something. Anything besides standing there like an idiot after such a stupid sentence.    But he was good at just standing around like an idiot! That’s what one learned to do in the military! Stand there, shut up, and do what you’re told. You don’t think. Why that didn’t work in the rest of his life, Akan didn’t know. It really wasn’t fair.    Giving into the wishes of the galaxy, Akan tried again, “Its...its um...nice.”    Nice. Yes, its nice. Great choice of words. Even an idiot that couldn’t speak Basic could find a better word to describe it than ‘nice’. So, like a good idiot, Akan didn’t just stop there, and continued to attempt making sense, “How often does this happen...?”        Shadow shuffled her feet, looked slightly more embarrassed, then said quietly, “I um...I don’t know...”Great! Just great! Now he was making her feel stupid, too. That just didn’t seem to help anything. Whatever this ‘anything’ was, of course, he didn’t know. Akan nearly sighed, but instead mumbled, “Oh...I guess that uhh—“    He was silenced when she placed a finger over his lips. His mind had literally gone blank in that second. That little voice that was in the back of his head taunting him had suddenly disappeared, and all he could find in its place was the equivalent of a ‘You’re on your own’ sign. And he sure felt on his own. The galaxy wasn’t saying anything to him anymore, and the Force sure as hell was being eerily silent.    And she was staring at him. She wasn’t trying to hide it, either. It did nothing but heighten his confusion. Yet...she...her hair was shining slightly. And her eyes...he’d never really noticed the way that the silver in them made the violent all that more brilliant. And the way she stood...positioned so that the moonlight made almost all of her shine slightly. Slowly, Akan found himself reaching up and resting a hand on her cheek. To his surprise(more so than the fact that he hadn’t tried to move his arm), she rubbed her cheek against his hand and purred slightly.    This only lasted for a few very long seconds, before the purring quickly came to a stop. Shadow looked up to him at first confused, and then straight on to being utterly lost. Very slightly, she tilted her head up took look at him as though to ask a question.    She didn’t.    He didn’t care.    As she took a small step forward, Akan saw an expression on her face that he’d never seen before. Something he didn’t have a word for. Not that he had words for much at the moment, anyway. Without even realizing it, Akan slowly leaned down towards her, his hand not moving from her cheek. In an instant, their lips met. Both of them held the kiss for what felt like an eternity, though only a few moments later, the both of them slowly pulled back at almost the same time, eyes locked the other’s.    A thousand thoughts that didn’t even make sense raced through both of their minds as they held each other’s gaze. Neither of them broke it, and neither of them knew what to do. Akan’s mind had gone from blank, to sheer insanity, then straight back to blank again. His hand still hadn’t moved, and they were both still very close.    There was an incredibly long moment in Shadow’s mind before thought caught up to action and started screaming. She blinked once. Her lips were tingling as much as her spine was. Still looking up at him, Shadow opened her mouth to say something. No words came out. She had no idea what to say. So, of course, she closed her mouth again and stood there staring.    That was...new... Marix cut into her thoughts, and all Shadow could do was agree.    And then, after another incredibly long pause, both Akan and Shadow, even without the link, came to the same conclusion. It would never, ever be spoken of again. Starting now.    “We should get back,” Shadow said, her voice still shaky, though they both ignored it. Akan just nodded, and seconds later, the two birds were off of the island and flying back to the palace, trying not to think. Neither of them spoke.* * * *From down near the base of the ancient ‘Temple’, two figures emerged. Both were Alraxians. One male and one female. They were still staring up at the second level of the ancient building where the two others had been. Slowly, the male asked, “Did you see that...?”    “Yeah...” the female nodded slowly.    “So what do we do...?” he asked, blinking and taking everything in slightly.    “I’m not sure...” she replied slowly.    A long silence then passed as the two of them passed along what they’d seen through the Network. Then, the female shrugged, “Who’d have thought we’d come all the way out here to stupid the full moons’ effects on reptiles and...”    The male laughed and nodded, “And you said it was boring.”    She smiled and indicated the objects they were carrying, “Come on, lets get back to the lab and put this data in. We can send it when we get there...” she trailed off a moment to look up at the spot one more time, her smile growing, “The Empire is going to get to see their next Enai is safe and happy on her return.”    “Safe?” the male laughed, obviously indicating the descriptions of the Enai’s mate as being slightly unhinged and just a little bit dangerous.    “Oh, hush,” she batted his arm and they started off to get back and spread the news.</blockquote>

Verification